Before COVID-19, in person meetings with our web agency clients or prospects were not usually our idea (we don\u2019t get a reputation of working alone in a dark basement for nothing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For years now, our industry has realized that most everything can be done virtually or online \u2014 but your average business owner hasn’t quite caught up to that fact yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was, until the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly, after the world shut down, even grandma was logging into Zoom meetings and trying to figure out how to unmute herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A year or so after the world has gone virtual, I\u2019m wondering if it will ever go back \u2014 at least in our industry \u2014 and if so, what does that mean for us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I, like a lot of my fellow agency owners, took the occasional in-person meeting with prospects looking to hire me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was never my favorite thing to do \u2014 you know, having to put real pants on \u2014 but there\u2019s no doubt that it\u2019s easier to build rapport with someone when you\u2019re face to face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the fact a prospect has gone out of their way to meet with you means that they are already invested in hiring you at some level. Just as much as you, they don\u2019t want to waste their time meeting with 20 different people to make a decision \u2014 and if the meeting goes well, they are likely to move forward with you because they\u2019ve already invested their time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even knowing this, I would still push for emails, video conferences, or phone calls (in that order) because of how much easier it is on my schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a soloprenuer working from home (and juggling a toddler with my business owner spouse), having to take a couple hours out of my day to meet with a client at the local coffee shop is a big disruption to my workday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back in April of 2020, when my region got the first set of stay at home orders, everything changed. Everyone seemed to be working remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I even hosted a webinar for my local chamber of commerce sharing tips, tricks, and software to help local business owners learn how to accomplish more remotely from their home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people who I wouldn\u2019t have even bothered pitching the idea of a video conference to were suddenly all set up with a web camera and microphone and fine with meeting me virtually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My booking calendar was never getting so much use, and people seemed to get the hang of it. As the months passed, I stopped getting asked to meet in person, and virtual meetings became the default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here we are just about a year after the pandemic really took hold (at least here in the States), and around 50% of the population in the US has now had at least one dose of the vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All businesses in Texas are opened to 100% capacity, mask mandates are a thing of the past, and life seems to be returning to \u201cnormal\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has me wondering if calls for in-person meetings will return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On one hand, getting out of the house doesn\u2019t seem so bad. I\u2019ve been sitting in my office, only leaving for mail and supplies for nearly a year. Getting out occasionally and interacting with people almost sounds fun (though I am worried if my pants still fit).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But now we\u2019re actually at a point that I always wished for pre-pandemic; where everyone is comfortable and capable of meeting virtually, and where I could make the most of my day without having to travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I haven\u2019t been asked yet, but I know it\u2019s coming: \u201cCan we get together to discuss this project?\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n