Ditch Email: Face-to-face Meetings For The Win
Ivan Brezak BrkanOh we so love e-mail. It’s fast, it’s a nice archive. We don’t have to get out of bed to send our first e-mail of the day (sometimes). But is e-mail the best way to communicate with your clients? Is it the best way to do business and send proposals? I don’t think so — and here’s a few reasons why.
The Digital Divide
As most of us are web workers, communicating via e-mail, VoIP and IM is second nature. The freelancer lifestyle in most cases means that we do the bulk of the work ourselves. Fast communication in these cases is crucial, but sometimes it can cost us projects. Why e-mail is bad:
Lack of emotion. Business is business, but people get emotional. No — I’m not talking about crying over your invoices or clients giving you a big hug when you finish their logo. I’m talking about the voice, the face, the stance, the actual reaction. You don’t get any of this via e-mail. Is the client really happy with the logo? Is he really that ecstatic? Does he hate your press release proposal or just think it needs a few tweaks?
Magnification. The purest form of communication, the written word. One word, one sentence can mean so many things to so many people. Find a potential client who doesn’t know (and doesn’t need to know) how to write well and you’ll really enjoy those e-mails…
Going back and forth. Sometimes you literally don’t understand what the client wants you to do. Examples are nice, but what about graphic design? Do you really want the client to draw over your beautiful proposal? What if he gets the idea to change your color scheme?
Show You’re Serious
Lots of people tell me they’ve gotten projects before simply because the other party didn’t bother to show up for the meeting. Clients have also told me that they’ve hired on this basis. Not showing your proposal personally is the same as not showing up to your first meeting with a client — except it can only end badly for you.
It’s all about the How. Remember Steve Jobs’ manila envelope? Do you remember the MacBook Air as “the thinnest laptop in the world” or “the laptop that can fit in a tiny, little, manilla envelope”? This is the exact same reason you need to present your proposal personally. The tone of your voice, the way you present it: it all influences your client’s final decision. The e-mail route seems easier at first glance, but it’s not as effective.
The truth is at the meeting. The first time the client looks, reads or listens to your work, no matter if it’s a press release, a website design or a musical composition, you have to be there. Some people will try to hide their thoughts for various reasons, but not many people can hide their initial reactions. They don’t need to. You’ll be able to see why Mr. Smith likes or doesn’t like your proposal. Not only that, but you’ll see just how much he likes it (or doesn’t like it!).
We all walk the walk. Your client has his or her own worries, hobbies, etc. E-mail conversations rarely end with a chat about what wine you both like. A designer or writer can, and should be able to, learn more from this kind of information than from the 30 page brief for the project.
But…
It takes time to arrange meetings. Aren’t you a freelancer? Aren’t you your own boss? Meetings should take minutes, not hours. Plan for them, expect them.
It forces me to see that client I don’t like. In this case you have more serious problems than meeting with your client. If you don’t like the client, don’t work for them. It’s as simple as that. If the project is well-paid and this is the reason you want to continue working for them, by all means, continue — but you must meet with them. It can only hurt you when you misunderstand that review e-mail for your proposal after the 10th revision.
It just takes time. Yes, it does. You can always take your bike: it’s good exercise. You’ll learn new things about your clients, which makes you a better contractor. You may actually start to like the person who thinks your work is worth their time and money, even if they haven’t made a stellar first-impression.
Let’s go analogue
We want to be treated seriously — like the big boys. We can’t, shouldn’t and won’t escape from meeting with our clients because sometimes it just makes sense. Some meetings will be time-wasters — that’s true — but knowing what your client is really thinking and the emotion he or she is showing while thinking that thought will make a huge difference.
Landing a project? Making the project outstanding? With our new found freedom as freelancers it’s time to take responsibility and show our clients that we mean business. The web worker, the digital creative — it doesn’t matter. Like any good thing in the world, meetings will do us good if we use them with care.
Aloke Pillai
February 27th, 2008
Awsome stuff!
Keep Rocking!
Aloke Pillai
Tai McQueen - WordSpace
February 27th, 2008
Great post, Ivan, and I couldn’t agree more. The fact is that although I write for clients I’ve never met, my success rate in signing up new clients is far greater when we meet face to face than when we only communicate digitally. Aside from that, getting out of the bunker and meeting with clients is a great way to combat the isolation that we have to deal with as freelancers.
Adam
February 27th, 2008
Thanks for a great post, Ivan. I definitely agree with you, to an extent. Like all things in life, there are no hard and fast rules, but I’ve found that in almost 100% of cases it’s best to have an initial face-to-face meeting with a client. Like you said, it can give you great insight into them as people and it’ll make it easier to understand their reactions, even in email. After that, I play it by ear. If the client requests more meetings, I’m happy to do them (at least up to the amount specified in the contract), but I’ve found that some clients would actually rather work via phone or email. I follow their lead - the customer is always right, and all that jazz.
Amy Lillard
February 27th, 2008
I definitely agree with most of this post, and thanks for writing it. But there are cases where personal meetings won’t work. I have several clients outside of my city, and even outside the country. For them, I rely on email to transcend time differences, to explain things when connecting via phone is difficult, and to create relationships. And it can work - I have a loyal client from England that trusts me and my work, without ever meeting me face to face. I guess it’s all about how you work with the email.
Ivan Brezak Brkan
February 27th, 2008
@Adam: The customer is always right, even when he’s wrong.
You’re quite right. It’s basically less of hearing your client and more understanding their workflow. Some clients might consider meetings great, while they actually would have no benefit. A good workflow, be it over email / face-to-face / or phone always works best, as you stated.
@Amy: For clients on the other side of the planet (or just another country), meetings obviously aren’t the answer. But hey, VoIP video/audio is getting better all the time, and it does give a better feel for some of the things we noted both in the article and the comments. Also, you noted it’s about how we work with email. That’s so true. Let’s hope we know our stuff.
Erica DeWolf
February 27th, 2008
Great post! I always like to throw in lots of face to face meetings and phone conversations with my local clients in addition to the emails sent out.
mave
February 27th, 2008
Almost all of my clients are outside my country, so it is impossible for us to meet. However, I’ve managed to maintain great working relationships with people through even some of the most frustrating and challenging projects. It all comes down to personal responsibility and clear communication.
I do agree that some important aspects of interaction are missed when dealing with people via email, but I don’t think the solution lies with face-to-face or telephone contact alone - it’s also extremely important for all of us to get better at communicating and asking the right questions in our text interactions with clients. Most of the problems that are commonly discussed with regard to email are ones that could be easily solved by simply taking more care with what we say and how we say it. The same is just as true with face-to-face interactions.
Dave Ellis
February 27th, 2008
Meetings, the word strikes fear into my very soul. Too often I am called into meetings that don’t need to happen and are dragged out to justify the gathering of people from various locations. It seems the further people travel from, the longer the meeting must run for.
Josh Garner
February 27th, 2008
Man, I would love to meet some of my clients face-to-face. I just picked up a new guy who seems like a really great guy. But he’s all the way in Connecticut. I haven’t had a single client in Florida. All long distance.
Robert Gorayski
February 27th, 2008
I have to agree with just about everything stated here. Ever since I started freelancing, I’ve become a compulsive networker. I constantly hand out my business card and attempt to set up meetings on a weekly basis. This ensures that I have a steady flow of work coming my way. Meeting clients is one of my favourite parts of the job for me too, often more so then getting my hands dirty with the work. Its the isolation that drives me bad.
Great post and as always, great advice!
Josh
February 27th, 2008
Hi, I agree with your posting, As we all know face to face meeting would resolve and avoid lots of problem.
Email or writing may help sometimes to express our words which can’t be expressed face-face.
Bryan A. McCarty
February 27th, 2008
I totally agree with this post. Conveying emotion through an e-mail is hard to do. It’s a lot easier to communicate face-to-face. Also, the conversation seems to be more genuine when talking face-to-face. As a freelance photographer, I would much rather meet with a client to discuss a potential shoot rather than figuring it out over e-mail. This way, I can fully grasp what the client is looking for. I can also gather vast amounts of information about the client by the way they dress, how they look - their style, the way they carry themselves, etc.
Meet in person… it’s the new black.
Clara
February 27th, 2008
You definitely make some good points about the value of face-to-face meetings.
However, I’ve had issues before where something was discussed in a face-to-face meeting, and then later the client and I had a disagreement about what the action item was we had agreed on. Now, while I’m happy to meet face-to-face to get to know the client and discuss the project, I ask for action items to be confirmed by email so that there’s a paper trail in case of a disagreement.
Chris Laskey
February 27th, 2008
Face to face meetings are a cornerstone of my freelance career. Of course there are many situations where this simply isn’t possible, but anytime I get (relatively) local business I try to meet in person.
Some of my best referrals, user confessionals, and repeat customers are the ones I’ve met with. Putting a face to a name goes a long way in keeping the customer understanding and satisfied.
As an aside: I agree completely with Clara, a follow up confirmation email is important to make sure everything is in writing. Our audio memories have a bad habit of forgetting things.
Cheers
Chuck Vosburgh
February 27th, 2008
Thanks for a great post!
People hire us for us, they like us and as a result like working with us. Electronic communication just doesn’t convey your personality adequately.
Another benefit is that ours is a very solitary profession and getting out of the office from time to time makes us more balanced. It’s always nice to get some fresh air and have a conversation with a real person
Abadeu
March 1st, 2008
Love the post Ivan.
I agree with the importance for the face 2 face meetings, and the importance of the initial emotions. Being designers, it is our job to convey there initial emotion, reaction, body language, and that infamous gaze.
Also I thank it is very important that we learn how to merge the two, just for the terms of proper business practices. Meet face to face with a client (when available), and back it up with an con4mation email. To all those working in other locations, Audio/Video may be the best way to go. then the email.
Julian Schrader
March 3rd, 2008
Great post, very enjoyable to read! Good points on meeting clients — it may be hard, but it’s worth it.
What about clients who live far away? Would you recommend videochat sessions when “real-live” meetings are not possible?
Julian Schrader
March 3rd, 2008
Sorry, jumped straight to the comment form without reading the previous comments. Question’s already answered
Ivan Brezak Brkan
March 6th, 2008
@Julian Schrader: Well, since there is not other choice, why not videochat? Honestly, I never VoIP-ed with a client so that would be something new for me. In my opinion, hearing a persons voice is most important - so a phone call, VoIP or just audio chat can do wonders. It beats e-mail in any case.
jennydecki
March 9th, 2008
While I enjoy the overall feeling of the personal meeting, I think the key is knowing how you can build a fast, solid emotional connection with your potential client. Emphasis on how YOU can build. What’s your strength? Are you better typing or talking? If you have no social skills…maybe an in person meeting would be the kiss of death for your project.
What I would love to see is during any in-person meetings I have with potential clients is a neon forehead sign that says “I’m totally beyond insane” if appropriate. I mean, you couldn’t put it on *everyone’s* head or we wouldn’t know who was actually insane and who wasn’t.
William Donnell
March 15th, 2008
Great points in the article. I always try to communicate with phone and in person in addition to email communication. But what about when you are pitching a site to a client who is on the other side of the country and can’t justify the plane ticket?
One technique I have used that seems to work well is to:
1. talk with them on the phone and tell them I will work up a detailed proposal
2. send an email with a link to a password protected page and say I will call them to “talk them through the proposal”
3. call them on the phone, make sure its a good time and then give the password and talk them through the proposal.
Pitching in person really is best, but this has worked well for me. You get to explain what you mean and answer questions they might have before they misinterpret something written in your proposal.
I just ran across this site recently and listened to a podcast today.
William Donnell
http://www.SodiumHalogen.com
William Donnell
March 15th, 2008
Oh, I also do the same thing when I am showing pencil-sketches, mock-ups, etc… Its great to tell them the reason for your color choice or whatever when they are looking at the mock for the first time. You are “pitching” your mock ups just like you “pitch” the proposal.
William Donnell
http://www.SodiumHalogen.com