A beginner's guide for business events Part 2 - Client meetings

These are the dedicated events that have the power to move business tremendously.  They usually involve traveling to an existing client’s / potential client’s corporate location, usually for single day and could be anywhere on the formality menu, from a cozy, wine fueled lunch with laughter and solving business issues between some teams or it could be a factory visit, shaking of hands, explaining uncertainty and uncomfortable takeovers or being blasted for having provided faulty products, with the expectation for you (and the peers traveling with you perhaps) to take blame and fix them.

Client meetings are serious and have a deep impact on the relationship going forward because they allow the humans behind job titles to build trust and connection. The more a company invests in this type of traveling the more secure they should be in business continuity. It’s not a guarantee but it really shows you care enough.

If you are tasked with meeting a client or even propose yourself a short trip with such purpose, the responsibility is huge. You could be entirely saving a deal by just making this one time effort.

Therefore, while it is important what you wear and how you carry yourself, the business at hand will matter most. It depends, of course, on the industry but in modern tech, for example - it is absolutely appropriate for a Solution Engineer to travel to a client’s location in jeans, a company hoodie and sneakers and still get the best outcome due simply to their knowledge in implementing or solving a technical puzzle for their client.

When meeting a potential client for the first time, yes - appearance and presence will have a significant impact but they won’t be enough to make anyone do business with you unless you manage to be convincing that the business is in their interest as well. 

They might even disconsider your company if they think that it’s spending money on sending someone to their location while completely unprepared.

Therefore - dress appropriately for your industry (and the usual dress-code of your company), mind your posture, be on time and do your homework. Or your work-work, however you want to call it. Prepare well in advance your presentations, reports, the latest communication between the client's party and your team and most importantly - if you are joined by colleagues with a different set of skills - make sure you coordinate with everyone about how things should play out (who is making introductions, who is speaking and when, who prepares whatever materials need preparing, etc). You don't want to go there and look like a bunch of amateurs and it might surprise you how many competent people lose credibility or authority on a client visit simply because they didn't practice a certain flow. Smoothness in a team needs to be rehearsed.

Client meeting on-site