While a majority of companies in India (62%) believe face-to-face networking will remain the best way to find new customers over the next two to three years, an increasing proportion also predict the rising importance of business social media in the new business mix (61%, up from 47% in the previous three years). This developing multichannel approach to new business generation are the latest research findings from global workspace provider Regus, which surveyed over 16,000 senior business managers across the world.
Face-to-face networking remains the top new business technique, despite a ten percent fall over the previous period. However, the increasing importance of professional social networking sites such as BranchOut, Viadeo and Xing stands out in the research, also witnessed by increasing user volumes, with LinkedIn having reached more than 135 million members.
Andre Sharpe, Global Director - Product & Business Development, Regus said, "The rise and rise of business social media networks mean that today they are as essential a tool to finding new customers as face-to-face interaction. For many years our customers have told us of the added value of being able to connect and do business with other companies using Regus. We are excited to respond to their needs with the launch of BusinessLink, which will instantly become one of the world's largest invite-only trading portals. Solely accessible by Regus office and virtual office customers, BusinessLink brings a global market within the reach of any company, no matter how large or small."
