Dear WordCount: I’ve been going to in-person meetings at a client’s office. I’m fine with going every once in a while, but it’s an hour’s drive each way and the more meetings I attend, the more it cuts into my hourly rate. I’d really like to cut back. Suggestions? — Tired of Driving
Dear Tired:
I hear you. Sometimes I think clients — editors, publishers, corporate clients, whomever — don’t understand what a time commitment meetings are. It’s not just the time you spend at the meeting, it’s the time it takes to get more dressed up than usual, travel there, park (if you drove a car), and then get back to your office. That’s a lot of hours away from your own office.
Here are some options:
Bill for your travel time. If it’s an existing client, the next time you negotiate a contract, build into your fee the time it takes you to get to their office and back. If it’s a prospective client, work it out so if they hire you, you won’t charge them for an initial meeting, but if they don’t, you’ll bill them.
Build it into your fee. If you work on a monthly retainer, calculate the time you spend in meetings into your fee.
Call instead. If you’ve been working together long enough, suggest substituting phone calls for weekly meetings, then schedule supplemental face-to-face meetings as needed. When I’ve worked on long-term contract editing projects, I had a standing weekly phone conference with the project manager. Some calls lasted 15 or 20 minutes if we didn’t have much to go over, but most were 45 minutes or longer. To make sure the calls were as productive as possible, I always emailed the project manager a short to-do list of things we needed to discuss.
Don’t rule out face-to-face meetings altogether. I’ve made a point of visiting editors and clients in different parts of the country every couple years. Mainly it’s just to check in, though we sometimes discuss story ideas. It’s expensive: flights, hotels, taxis, meals, etc. But I’ve established great working relationships with all of them, and over the years they’ve given me tens of thousands of dollars in assignments. That’s relieved me of doing much in the way of other marketing for new work — definitely worth it. Occasionally I’ve been able to piggyback meetings with out-of-town editors onto business or pleasure trips.
Ask for office space. If you can’t avoid meetings, make the most of the time you’ll be in the client’s office. Ask the person you’re meeting whether there’s a desk you can use. If there is, come prepared – set up your laptop, iPad or phone and plow through whatever else you’ve got going for that day. Who knows, hang around long enough, and you may pick up extra work.
How do you handle client meetings?
[Flickr photo by mark.woodbury]
Mostly good advice. It feels like bad form to bill for an initial meeting, though if it involves lengthy travel, especially overnight, perhaps in can be negotiated in advance that the prospective client cover some or all of that cost. Personally, though, I’d eat it as cost of marketing.
Face-to-face meetings can have their value, but often a quick phone check-in is all that’s needed.
As for interviews for articles, I greatly prefer to do them in person if at all possible, though do phoners if logistics don’t work out or if the cost of travel would eat up much of the fee for the article.
I’m a regular follower of the blog; keep up the good work!
I agree that it feel like bad form to bill for an initial meeting. That’s why my advice is to not bill if you end up getting the work, but billing for the time if you don’t. And yes, it would be good to negotiate that up front, even before you agree to take the meeting.
The advice I’d give for setting up meetings for story interviews is different. In that case, it really depends on the subject, how much time you have, how much you’re getting paid for the story, and your proximity to the sources you need to talk to. If you’re writing for local news organizations, by all means do interviews in person if possible. If you’re getting $10,000 for a New Yorker piece and two months to write it, by all means do interviews in person. If you’re writing a non-fiction book that you got a handsome advance for and can spend six to 12 months on, by all means do interviews in person. But if you’re writing a national trend piece that’s 500 words long and due in 5 hours, the phone’s the only way to go.
Michelle
I agree that billing for an initial meeting isn’t right — that’s part of the cost of doing business, in my opinion. I find in-person meetings largely pointless. There tends to be a lot of small talk, futzing around, interruptions, fruitless office tours, eating and ordering lunch or coffee, etc. So my first step is always, always to request a phone call first. If business isn’t accomplished during that call, then I’ll concede to an in-person meeting, but I bill for my time spent getting to and from the meeting as well as time spent in the meeting. My time is just as valuable as theirs.
Thanks for sharing your perspective.
I think there’s a good argument to be made for taking an in-person meeting at the beginning of a project. If it could turn into a long-standing project, it helps you establish a relationship with the client. And they can see you for the professional you are and not just some disembodied voice on the phone, or someone who works from home in their PJs. Sure, there’s small talk, but that’s how you get to know each other. I don’t think it’s necessary to have continuing f2f meetings, though. That said, it is nice to get together every once in a while. And if you get invited to a social event, go. Once when I was a contract contributing writer at a weekly magazine I paid my own way to fly to their company Christmas party – it was a great way to put names with faces, make myself known to editors I wasn’t doing as much work for (but wanted to), and feel like part of the team.
Michelle
Good advice, Michelle! I have local clients whom I haven’t met after multiple years of work for them. After awhile, I try to schedule a meeting when I’m in town. However, most of my clients are out of town, so we’re always on the phone or email.
Most of my work is for publications or clients out of my area too. In the past 2 years, I’ve had f2f meetings with editors or clients in Seattle, LA, Chicago and New York. In every case I was able to piggyback a meeting onto a business or pleasure trip. It’s definitely worthwhile.
Michelle