Kevin Willett explains that sometimes face to face is needed when doing business.

I was speaking to a friend this morning and he told me because he has been so busy lately, that instead of meeting with potential clients in person, he has only been to offering to talk with them by phone. When I asked him how that strategy was going, he told me ‘honestly, not that great’.

I have to admit I chuckled because I remember having this same idea a while ago. I was going through a rapid growth phase in my business and was having trouble finding the time to meet with potential clients in person, so I decided that I would video chat or talk by phone with them. At the time, I was surprised that my results were poor.

Now I realize that there are lots of networking opportunities available. I also realize people chose to join my group because when they sit down with me they see my passion for networking and believe that I can help them. It is much harder for you to build that trust in a phone call with someone that you have never met.

I have people say to me “but Kevin, it gets frustrating when I take the time to meet someone and they decide not to become a client. I feel like I wasted my time.” I don’t believe that any meeting is ever a waste of time. Each time I speak with a potential client it is an opportunity to improve on my speaking skills and I have found that although they may not join the group, they often refer me to potential clients.

Please give some thought to this next time you are tempted to ask someone to speak by phone rather than meet in person.

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Kevin Willett is the Author of One Connection How you can grow your business  (and change the world) one connection at a time. The business networking book is available on Amazon. Purchase One Connection on Amazon

Kevin is also the CEO of the Friends of Kevin Networking Group  and the New England B2B Networking Group. Please connect with him on social media to hear about his upcoming business networking events.