Are face to face (in-person) meetings with clients still important for today’s e-Learning freelancers?

It's fun once in a while, but it's not necessary. A face-to-face meeting can help build trust, especially early on in a relationship, but there are other ways to build confidence and trust online. I hardly ever meet clients in person.

I like meeting clients, it does build trust. That said my biggest client I have never met and for 2 years we only ever "spoke" via email, or Skype chat it was only a couple of years ago we connected via Skype voice and realised we had never spoken to one another.

Thanks for your input Christy!

Phil,

In situations where I have the ability to meet face-to-face with a client, I always take it. I think it adds more value to the relationship and has, on many occasions for me,  led to a more lucrative project.  That being said, the majority of my interactions are conference calls and video via Zoom and/or Skype. I'm waiting for the VR options to kick in and get my first virtual assistant hologram.  :)

Thanks for commenting. 

Richard

Thanks Matthew! I agree, "it's not essential"  but my experience has been, it improves my relationships with clients which usually turns into more work.

Richard

I do far more corporate work than I do freelance and even with knowing everyone I still like having in-person meetings. I found that overall it is just easier to communicate clearly. I have also found it easier to push issues if you need something from them and they are non-responsive.

However, I do not think it is essential that meetings happen in person anymore I have seen estimates (likely inflated) that within the new decade or so 40% of the workforce will be remote. That means we are going to need to adapt.

Keith,

Thanks for taking the time to comment and share your thoughts.  I don't think face-to-face meetings will go away but there are situations where they are better than a virtual meeting. Here's an interesting article that discusses some situations where F2F trump Virtual Meetings:  https://www.pgi.com/resources/articles/when-face-to-face-meetings-trump-virtual-meetings/

Again, thanks for taking the time to comment.

Richard

I have had a few clients who wanted to met me in person but other than that I rarely have face-to-face meetings. I used to meet with prospects in order to win the business but I don’t even do that anymore as most of what I do is repeat business or referrals.  I am kind of like the Greta Garbo of elearning.

I do agree that meeting face-to-face can help to build trust but there are other ways to do that. It helps if you are an effective communicator.  I have a client in Africa and we only communicate via email. It has worked out great. They did send me their photos though so that I could meet the team. 

Nancy,

Yes! I think communication is the key! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this Greta!

Richard

I did not meet my clients or SMEs in person in most of my projects in the past 16 years. In some of my projects we don't even know how each other looks like but still worked out great. Yes, it's easier to build a relationship when meeting face to face but you can only win trust by showing profession and efficience. Just like Nancy said that there are other ways to win trust.  

Thanks Joanne. Great points.