Face to Face or video conferencing

[James]

Just looking to gauge what people generally prefer when looking at a possible new service provider?

Face to face meeting or video conferencing ?

We are a system based company in the transport sector. So for me it is easy to show on a call or face to face.

 

[Paul Carmen]

Who has time for face to face? We work with people all around the country, in person meetings waste a huge amount of time & money travelling, plus are detrimental to the planet.

 

[NickGrogan]

Whats wrong with a phone call?

 

[fisicx]

I meet one client every now and then but that’s only because he buys me beer. Every one else makes do with a phone call. Not even video conferencing. I’d have to get dressed for that.

 

[Paul Carmen]

I meet one client every now and then but that’s only because he buys me beer. Every one else makes do with a phone call. Not even video conferencing. I’d have to get dressed for that.

Only from the waist up

 

[NickGrogan]

I haven't had a face to face sales meeting in years. Video calls are fine; I just don't turn the camera on, which amazingly turns it into a phone call.

Also, I don't need to get dressed.

I've had one person refuse to work with me because I didn't have the camera on. But if you're the kind of person that worries about that, you're also not the kind of person I want to work with.

 

[James]

Whats wrong with a phone call?

Nothing, i normally cold call then look to demo the system either over a conference call or face to face meeting. Just looking to gauge what people prefer as if i do face to face i can look to book a few in a day or add some door knocking.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I'm a fan of face to face, but only once there is a reasonable chance that we will be doing business

Phone first!

 

[Deleted member 356896]

I used to work in sales a while back. Personally I preferred face to face for the initial meeting and then the follow ups would be via Teams.

I found I built a better relationship with the client and also converted more sales (that may just be because I was better at selling in person than via Teams/phone).

 

[WaveJumper]

Was actually had a conversation about this yesterday, clients seem to fall into two camps with my son, those who appear to want that first face to face meeting it would appear to make sure you're actually a real person and they can "Look you in the eye" and see if they trust you, others quite happy with DM's, video etc.

What makes me laugh personally are the amount of people who have no clue whats going on in the background when they are on a video call, take the MP for instance yesterday who's dog was licking its backside throughout the whole interview ........and these people are running the country

 

[Ozzy]

I always prefer a face-to-face meeting, ideally coffee shop over a cuppa. I'm happy to do a video call because I accept that is the world now, and I do prefer the camera on to see the person I'm dealing with. I want to see how much effort they put into wanting to work with us, and if they don't put in any effort then why should I give them any of my time. We don't get time back, I'm a very impatient person to sell to if on the phone or video call. I hate waffle, I hate sales pitch, I just want facts and data. So if someone starts asking me how my day is they've lost me and I have ended the call at times. If we are face to face I give them the time of day, happy to chat and build a relationship.

When I've done selling in the past I would always offer to travel and meet the person, whether Aberdeen, Ashford, London, I'd make the effort and very rarely not got the sale. These days I don't really do any selling but if I did, I'd put in the effort.

 

[fisicx]

It all depends on the person. I often have calls with clients where we spend time chatting about non-work related things. It helps build the relationship. It’s not waffle, it’s just chit-chat.