The Value of a Face-to-Face Meeting from the Austin, Texas Airport

I’m writing from the Austin, Texas airport about to head back to Raleigh, North Carolina.

Fred and I have had a client since November of 2006 that we have never met face-to-face until today. It’s easy to get caught up in doing business via phone and email. Social media has become a more personalized way of communicating online; however, nothing beats a handshake and a face-to-face meeting.

Our client now feels much better about working with us and even talked about a long term 5 to 10+ year relationship. It’s kind of funny that he feels so much better about us just based on a face-to-face meeting. He had a GREAT 2007 online without ever meeting us.

Now, I’ll pose a question…how do you feel about spending hundreds of dollars to fly round trip to seal a deal or solidify a relationship?