Despite spending around 15 hours behind the wheel, an alarming one in ten don’t concentrate on the road, while 40% treat their car as a mobile café, eating meals on the move and one in six smoke (14%). Long hours in the car, miles away from home, also results in 38% using the time to keep in touch with friends who they are too busy to see.
The survey also revealed some unusual activities undertaken by the channel while on the move, including learning to speak Spanish and applying make-up!
With almost half of the working week spent in the car, many have to try and fit in their relaxation time while on four wheels. And when they do have precious spare time 76% de-stress by spending time with their family, which explains why contrary to popular belief, a third of the channel rarely visit the pub (33%) and 39% say they hardly ever have the time to play their favourite sport.
The research also found that when not stuck in the car and doing what they do best, the channel is most excited by opportunities in the financial services (26%), public services (21%) and education (20%) sectors which are seen as having the greatest market potential.
However, these were also the sectors where the channel struggles to gain market share. Over one in four (26%) believe that public sector is the highest barrier to entry, closely followed by the financial services (20%), healthcare (19%) and education (15%) sectors.
Graham Bevington, managing director EMEA at Mitel said, “The results have shown that the markets with the greatest potential are also the hardest to crack. In order to succeed and stay ahead of the game in this exciting business, channels need to invest in their new business strategy in order to differentiate themselves from competitors.
“Only by honing long-term sales plans and investing in training for sales staff will innovative channels reap the benefits and prosper in these new markets.”