I also encourage clients who are poor at explaining projects via email to do an in-person (or at least phone) consult. If I don’t, I seem to end up going ’round and ’round trying to get a draft that meets their goals.

A most Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to one and all!

Robin

I had one newsletter client for 4 years who insisted on meeting before each issue (10/year), and then sometimes didn’t attend after I’d driven across town. I added that time into the newsletter billing so they probably never realized they were paying for it.

I have a current client who sub-contracts me to write direct mail for HER client. Sometimes she has me drive across town to pick up background material and I don’t charge her. But recently, she had me write 2 different versions of a letter (for the price of one) and then requested a meeting to “compare notes.”

Enough’s enough. When I told her I’d have to charge her for travel time and the meeting, we were able to do it all by phone.

I’ve been working sight-unseen several years with another client (3 people) who’s about 90 minutes away. Recently, they requested a meeting and set the date, then all took that day as vacation (don’t you just love Corporate America?) but insisted I come anyway meet one other staff member, so I’ve still never met them. They paid me, but that soured me on meetings for a while.

If a client believes an in-person meeting is the best way to give me the information I need for a project, especially if it involves several people at once or a product demonstration, I’m happy to go.

For annual reports, meetings are almost necessary. A personal sit-down with the president to discuss their letter, their view of the past year and their visions for the future is far better than a conference call. Though, for my third annual report for one Fortune 500 company, the CEO’s schedule only permitted a conference call — I think I had to be available on a given afternoon for a call that could come at any time. By then, they were familiar with me, so the call was fine.

For some annual reports or major corporate or marketing pieces that require input from different people on different topics, a day of meetings where I go from office to office interviewing them (or they come to me in a conference room) has been effective. Another time, people were being brought in to a company’s HQ from all over to be photographed and I spent two days interviewing them about specific customer success stories that were going to appear throughout the annual report. Those two days of on-site interviewing were far more productive than trying to catch all those people on the phone.

For one of my ad agency clients, the meeting itself used to be a key part of a messaging development service they delivered (and which I was a billable part of).

Let me emphasize billable. Whether I bill the particular client on an hourly or project basis, I get paid for participating in meetings. I tend to cut them a bit of a break and charge my travel only one-way.

I used to have an agency client north of New York City in one of the Hudson River towns who used to bring me there to participate in client meetings and creative development at their shop. They paid my train fare and hotel and a day rate for my services as well as additional fees for the work I did when I got back to my own office.

I have one Florida client for whom all my work has been long distance since I started with them in 2005. The marcomm manager at the time (who I knew in person from previous companies) brought me in. He’s gone now and I’ve never met any of the people I continue to work with there. This is one client for whom I have no choice but to participate in conference calls that sometimes involve as many as 6 people — usually all talking at me. Occasionally, the purpose of the call is for me to interview a client for a case study; then the company folks are listening in and chiming in as appropriate. In-person meeting would be out of the question.

As Peter mentioned in the original article, getting out of the (home) office from time to time is a good thing. When the client I need to see is in downtown D.C., I walk to Metro. I get fresh air, I get to be part of the city and I treat myself to lunch out — or at least Starbucks. Something I rarely do when I spend the day working at home.

I thought about all of this before I decided on this specialty, because I truly dislike in-person meetings. But…decided that it’s worth it because I’ll be happier in this area of business. I also think I can write a script faster than any other writing project. So the time I “lose” in meetings (sorry to put it this way, but I agree with Bly that they can be time wasters), I can make up for in getting the project done before deadline.

That said, I totally agree with Mike. This discussion shouldn’t make you say, “No meetings for me – ever!” As he points out, and I’ll absolutely second it, when you’re starting out, you should be willing to meet clients whenever they want. I built my business by meeting with clients. When clients meet you, it humanizes you, and they can connect more easily to you personally, and, in my experience, that will make more likely that they’ll hire you (assuming you’re good and your skills are a match for their needs).

And sometimes, if it’s a creative project that needs a good brainstorming session, face-to-face can be more productive. But that’s not the typical project profile.

Of course, before you go meeting any knucklehead who calls, make sure you’re on the same page, money-wise. As I’ve said before, it’s never any fun to drive across town only to discover the prospect think they’re going to get a brochure for $150.

PB