Technology today is so advanced that client meetings happen online without having to meet in person. Although virtual meetings have their own benefits, face-to-face meetings could be better for developing client and business relationships. A recent Forbes Insight Report reveals 85% of people reveal in-person meetings help them build stronger, more meaningful business relationships than video conferencing.
If you are a company with remote or hybrid work arrangements, it is crucial to maintain office space for client meetings. You can maximize the private meeting rooms offered by co-working spaces such as Quest Workspaces for your client and employee meetings. This blog discusses the importance of in-person meetings in business.
It builds rapport and client relationships
The key to client retention and long-term business success is a strong relationship. Human interaction helps build trust while fostering more profound connections. Meeting clients, coworkers, and colleagues face-to-face provides a sense of human interaction, which help build trust. The in-person meeting also makes it easier to form deeper connections. While emails and other forms of virtual meetings remove the pressure of in-person discussions, you will lose out on the ability to fully connect with your client. When talking face to face, your tone, facial expressions, and posture all communicate to the client that you are sincerely interested in their feelings, and this builds trust. Besides, making arrangements to meet clients in person allows you to demonstrate how much you value their time and business.
Guarantees more in-depth conversations
Business relationships often have myriads of complex moving parts. It can be challenging to grasp all details sent out via email or phone. Text messages and emails are always short and straight to the point. Meeting clients in person allows you to expand the conversation and dive into more complex topics. It also allows you to collect much more information regarding client needs and interests. Determining precisely what clients want can be extremely difficult when communicating through email, phone, or video conferencing.
You pick up hidden messages
Studies show about 93% of communication effectiveness is determined by non-verbal cues. With face-to-face meetings, you pick the little nuances of communication that you could easily miss in virtual meetings. Successful business communication requires you to be adept at reading even the tiniest of body language and changing emotions. Unfortunately, it is easy to misinterpret messages in emails and texts due to the absence of non-verbal cues. Face-to-face meetings allow you to pick up cues and quickly resolve misunderstandings and miscommunications. In-person meetings ensure higher engagement levels with client discussion while guaranteeing communication is better understood.
You get a better impression of the client's personality
In order to establish better business relationships, you need to know clients' personalities and understand their business needs in detail. You understand a person's personality better through body language and facial expressions offered by in-person meetings. Undoubtedly, making an impactful first impression through virtual communication is quite challenging. Email and phone conversations lack the kind of connection that in-person meetings can deliver. Communication experts reveal in any business engagement, the first impression sets the tone for a great business relationship, and an in-person meeting always guarantees the strongest first impression. Ideally, when you meet in person, you get a chance to throw in a small talk which allows you to really get to know someone. Little things like someone's hobbies can introduce an excellent ground to build a much stronger relationship.
Clear communication of goals and objectives
Nothing beats in-person meet-ups for clarity. As mentioned earlier, so much can be conveyed through facial expressions and body language that cannot be picked up on virtual platforms such as Zoom. Lack of non-verbal cues increases the risk of information being misinterpreted. For example, it is easy to misinterpret the tone of an email as being rude or dismissive just because it seems curt and brief to the point. However, if the same message was to be conveyed in person with a smile on the face and a cheery demeanor, you would interpret it as being friendly but to the point.
Leverage Quest Workspaces for all your in-person meetings
Face-to-face meetings are irreplaceable when it comes to fostering robust client relationships. You connect with clients more and better when you meet in person than meeting online. Face-to-face meetings provide great opportunities to bond, exchange ideas, and understand client needs and expectations. Quest Workspaces provide highly custom private meeting rooms to enable you to meet clients in a conducive environment for better connection and effective communication. Meeting clients in our meeting rooms show how dedicated and motivated you are to make your relationship with them work.
Contact us today to schedule a tour in a location near you.
