Do I Need To Meet My Clients Face-to-face If I

If a client asks you to meet him as part of the job what would be the maximum distance you would be willing to travel?

Why don’t you ask your client to come to you rather than you to travel to him or her?I recently made a trip to Europe to meet with my remote development team. I respect and love my guys. It’s both practical and supportive to pay them a visit this way every now and then.I’m also open to an idea of covering the travel costs for an outstanding talent I want to meet in person.If we are talking about a long-term work opportunity then a freelancer shouldn’t hesitate of hitting the road. We live and work in the remote world, but this doesn’t mean that we should avoid business meetings face-to-face.It works both ways.For a good client or a reliable freelancer no distance is too long and no cost is too high.

When should I meet clients in person?

Clients often want to meet before they close the deal. But with sales teams using primarily phone, e-mail and social media, is it still worth to meet clients in person?If you've just started a business, your opportunity cost is close to zero – no-one knows about you yet, so you need to grab every chance out there to connect with a client. Build personal relationships with your first clients and you're bound to benefit from the network effect. Once you're in demand, you'll need to learn how to manage your opportunities. When should you meet a client?Set a profit margin and increase it over time. If the impact of a meeting is below this value, you’ll know that you shouldn't arrange it.The thing about Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is that, depending on what you're selling, sometimes it can be higher than your Customer Life Time Value (LTV). This is also when you should say no to traveling for a meeting.What if they want to come over?My default answer is always positive. But before you agree, arrange a call or email them first, so you can get all the context beforehand and have a much more productive meeting. Last thing I want is someone spending money to meet me and regretting it.What if they have a big impact on your revenue?When it comes to traveling in this case, try to say yes – but wait for the right moment in the sales process. Consider the nature of your product as well. If you’re in a software development company where the smallest deal value is $50k, it’s likely that more than a half of your closed deals will require meetings. What they have a big impact on your business?These clients don't generate great revenue, but add a different value (like huge network or industry insight). If you help them, they'll be grateful and in return help your business grow. Before agreeing to meet them, make sure there's a value in it first.If you decide to travel, here are some tips to help you keep it lean:Use public transport – you can travel and work on the way, and that's a huge productivity boost.Choose cheap accommodation Try to meet more clients – maximize your investment in travels by meeting more than one client. I try meet 3-10 clients per trip and that's how those $125-250 turn into the value of getting in touch with 7 clients potentially worth $50k.Max 2 trips a week – even if you're a killer organizer, traveling screws up your schedule, so limit yourself and you won't go crazy.Read more sales advice on the RightHello B2B Sales blog

Does a client ever need to meet with an attorney?

Need to?  No.  With phone/email/video technology, there are plenty of ways for an attorney and client to work with each other in a perfectly ethical manner without ever having face-to-face meetings.  But as a practical matter, such an arrangement is rare; at least for an initial meeting, I typically want to meet my clients, and they typically want to meet me.  But for clients who are hundreds or thousands of miles away, it's not unknown, although I can count on one hand (and have fingers remaining) the number of matters I've worked on without ever having an in-person meeting with the client.

I am meeting my boyfriend face to face for the first time and am anxious. What do I do?

I am answering this question as someone who has a boyfriend who boarded a plane for our first meeting to come to see me.I take it maybe you are meeting him for the first time due to a complication like distance. I hope that if this is an arranged date that you are happy and not being forced into it.You might know basic information about him, such as likes and dislikes.The most important thing to remember is to be yourself. Don’t try to put on a show and pretend if you want an authentic and genuine relationship.You might be tempted to dress up elaborately and cake yourself in makeup but you don’t have to do that! (unless it makes you feel confident but don’t over do it).Meet somewhere public. People don’t always have pure intentions. You could wind up getting seriously injured and unable to call for help. That being said, carry a cell phone if you have one and tell someone who cares about you where you will be. It’s extremely easy for someone to lie about their age, sex or gender when you don’t know them in person. I speak from experience.Don’t feel obligated to kiss or be intimate with him! It’s a first date. Don’t let him pressure you or hold power over you.Make an effort to get to know him better. You know basics but first dates are great for asking questions and learning more! Steer clear of deep topics such as relationship longevity, politics and planning a future together. That will make him not want another date!Don’t let yourself be distracted. No cell phones on a date (have it on you on silent or off, unless needed to call someone for emergency- example: he is threatening you and you need to leave NOW)!Compliments are nice. If you like his outfit choice or even better, dig his music taste, for example, say so! It can be a conversation starter! You two can bond over your similar taste.End the date on a nice note. Feel free to end it early if needed. Ideally, have him initiate the next steps (depending on whose idea the date was). Don’t seem desperate. Mention you had fun if you had fun and something you learned about him that you found interesting will show you were paying attention! Men appreciate that as well, even if they don’t voice it.I hope this helps! Keep in mind that even if it doesn’t go well, you might not want to dismiss him outright. Know that he is probably anxious too.~Mack

Do investors always meet face to face with entrepreneurs? If so do they take notes with paper and pen or all digitally?

Not always.The answer to this question depends on several factors, including the stage of the investment, the check size, the experience of the investor, the experience of the entrepreneur, the location of the investor relative to the entrepreneur, etc.Generally, the earlier the stage, the smaller the check size, the more experience the investor has, the more experience the entrepreneur has, and the greater the distance between the investor/entrepreneur, then the less likely that the investor will meet with the entrepreneur face-to-face (notice that I said less likely, not "not at all").On the flip side, the later the stage, the larger the check size, the less experience the investor has, the less experience the entrepreneur has, and the shorter the distance between the investor/entrepreneur, then the more likely that the investor will meet with the entrepreneur face-to-face.Those are the two extreme examples. If you tweak any of those variables, then the further you'll go away from that extreme and closer towards the other end of the spectrum, resulting in there being more or less likelihood that the investor will want to meet face-to-face with the entrepreneur.

What do you do with a client whose life is always chaos, and because of that, cancels appointments with you last minute, is always late or calling last minute to ask for a different day, then misses that day too, and generally blows up your schedule?

When I had a small hotel, and I wanted to ditch a nuisance client, I would politely say… “Maybe mine is not the best hotel for you. Perhaps you would feel much more comfortable elsewhere, and… I wouldn’t be at all offended if you would like to checkout early.” All the time being pleasant and smiling humbly, without showing my teeth.Perhaps you could say something along the lines… “I can’t help but feel that perhaps I am not the right stylist/mechanic/whatever for you. And I would encourage you to find someone else to look after your needs. I wish I could have served you better, but I know you will find another one of me, Thank you so very much. Take care, bye-bye.”You have to use reverse psychology, and rest the blame on yourself in order not to appear offensive.And once it has been said and done, let it go. Of course you can not help it if you are a hair stylist per se, and someone else in your shop takes the booking. Then you will just have to live with it, or double book the spot with another client, and when the annoying client show’s up, make them wait. And take your time with the new client, and/or farm-off the annoying client to someone else. Sometimes in business, one has to lie!!!