Getting Down to Business

It turns out in-person meetings still exist

A few weeks ago, I had a meeting. I was sent a calendar invite with conference call details, as is the norm in 2024, and when the time came for the meeting, the person I was meeting with was nowhere to be found. I emailed him asking where he was at, he emailed me asking me where I was at. It turns out he had put the address in the invitation because this meeting was, in fact, in person. He was waiting for me to arrive. In an actual office. There was no computer to be found. What a notion in 2024, an in-person meeting. I just assume everything is over video these days. Little did I know this 'inconvenience' would lead to some fascinating and unexpected benefits.

I was obviously embarrassed I misread the calendar invitation, so I made quick plans to reschedule for the following day. In the few hours between, I wondered why he was so adamant about wanting to meet me in person despite what we had to discuss being five or ten minutes. It felt like the sixty-minute round-trip train commute to get to his office was inefficient and almost unnecessary. We could accomplish what we needed in just a couple of minutes over the phone, or so I thought.

By the time I made it to the meeting the next morning, we sat down at a table. I found myself wanting to get to business immediately, as I think the landscape of video calls and everyone always being in a hurry has trained me to do. However, he was the opposite. He took his time. It was nearly fifteen or twenty minutes before we began to turn the conversation toward what we were supposed to discuss. It turns out, most of the time was spent talking about things, on paper, that we weren’t supposed to discuss. He told me stories, and I told him stories. It was my first time meeting with him, and the time allotted allowed us to get to know each other on a deeper level, which was refreshing. It was an hour-long meeting, and we discussed business for only about five to ten minutes.

This guy is what I would describe as a gentleman. He's the type that prefers phone calls over text, the kind of who would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. And yes, he's the type of guy who would meet in person instead of on the phone. And I loved that. His preference for in-person meetings led to a much deeper conversation, and it forced me to take a much-needed step back. It set the tone for a much deeper working relationship than what would have happened if we had just chatted for five minutes. And I appreciate that.

This meeting, which happened about a month ago, really stuck with me. Sure, this gentleman is someone I greatly admire in menswear, and the meeting stuck with me for that reason, but I think the real reason it resonated with me was that it reinforced the importance and necessity of bringing back in-person meetings whenever possible. Face-to-face conversations! A foreign concept these days. Just five years ago, I didn't even have Zoom on my computer, and all my meetings were in person. But how quickly has this changed, and now I’m shocked when someone actually schedules something in person.

Since then, I have made it a point to meet up with people in person whenever possible. It's not as easy as sitting on your couch, putting on a polo shirt, and pressing a couple of buttons. You have to put on a suit, get a little sweat while walking to the train, which you will then take for thirty minutes for a meeting that could, in fact, be very short, and then return home. But that's the point. In some respects, things are too easy these days, and the video conference is one of them. It’s time we remember we need to put in some effort. As the saying goes, the more you put into something, the more you get out of it.

As a society, we're often caught up in the 'more is better' mindset. The more clients we meet, the better, and the more calls we can get on, the better. But this experience has prompted me to pause and reassess. If we could prioritize one or two quality in-person meetings a day with clients or prospective clients, I believe it would always lead to a more profound relationship than just the typical transactional meetings.

There will always be time and a place for video calls, and I am not saying to disavow them forever, but I am saying there might be a chance to work some in-person meetings back into your repertoire. So, might I suggest that this Monday morning, as you sit down at your desk, get your cup of coffee and take stock of your calendar for the week. I bet there are one or two meetings on your weekly schedule that you could move to in person, and dare I say, I would encourage you to do so. It's not going to be convenient; it's actually going to make your life a bit harder as you have to allot time to travel to and from these meetings, but if you're strategic about it, I guarantee you'll (and I hope the person you’re meeting with) get more out of the meeting, both in business and on a personal level, than if you did it over Zoom.