Why I Got Back in the Car to Meet Clients Again

Teams has gone too far and is being used for most meetings even when it’s not the best option.  We had to use it for a long time, and it was easy to get on, hard to wean off. We are in the relationship business and it’s hard to build a relationship through a screen! Clients and network expect you to put in the effort and show up!

The day I realised Teams had gone too far

When I was reconnecting with someone in my network and trying to arrange an appointment, he suggested a Teams meeting as usual. At that point I had the sudden thought that maybe I can go see him after all his office was in a great spot with lots of cafes nearby and it had been a while since we've seen each other face to face.

The reaction I got to the suggestion to come personally just blew me away and made me suddenly realise there'd be plenty of other people who would welcome a face-to-face visit rather than an online meeting.

When I then looked around them and what my fellow partners were doing effectively no one was making the effort to get offline and get back in front of people. It seemed to take forever for people to get the confidence that was safe and worthwhile to get in the car again.

It took a lot of encouragement and support to get people firstly to arrange the appointment and then to actually go. Teams was still too easy but not necessarily the right commercial tool. There had to be a balance.

The strategic value of online meetings

There's no doubt how use of online meetings has dramatically expanded and their effectiveness has grown exponentially over the past few years. Where able to get lots of people together on short notice and from all over the country or even globally on a meeting with almost no cost.

A lot of management meetings and board meetings now genuinely effectively taking place online. I'd like to think that face to face involves a lot of time each week but the reality is it's probably less than half a day and a good target would be to get that up to one day a week as a minimum.

Where is the right balance?

So where is the right balance? I think it's more about the actual meeting and the person you're meeting with rather than some arbitrary percentage 4 hours allocation. For any first meeting with the client I think you should definitely try to meet face to face unless they're in a remote area or there's another real reason the preferring online.

Sync meetings with key referral sources are best done face to face and avoid online. I also think key events like strategic reviews weather internally or as part of a client engagement should also be done in person. I just don't think you get the feel of the room or capture the body language effectively in an online meeting.

Lasting (positive) legacy of COVIDs push to human isolation

Online meetings are OK in lots of circumstances. I still use them heavily particularly for internal catchups, project updates and regular time slots with people I know really well. They are also very useful for covering off Technical for other things where sharing the screen really helps.

The amount of time saved not having to travel leaves a lot more time for the meetings that are best done in person. A good example last week where one of my colleagues travelled 4 hours each way to a meeting and we secured a significant engagement because he was there. That was a great use of his time and wouldn't have worked if it had been done online.

Use technology to support, not replace..

In trying to figure out whether you should use online or in person meetings, think comes back to how we best use technology but still get the outcomes we're looking for. The technology is so easy to use and relatively cheap.

We just need to recognise that it can't be used in every circumstance or with every person. In terms of generational changes how more experienced and older business owners often prefer to meet in person whereas the younger entrepreneurs would more than likely prefer an online catch up with the occasional meeting in person.

In any situation involving business development I think you should run a really critical eye over how many touch points are being handled electronically and if it's the majority then that's way too much and run likely to get the sales success that you're looking for.

Author:
Noel Scully
Director, nem Australasia
June 2025