Working for a marketing and sales consulting agency, where some of my clients are hours away by plane, I think keenly about when to travel for an expensive face to face meeting, and when to conduct a phone call, perhaps with a Webex or Netmeeting presentation.
Here are some guidelines I've determined:
Need to be in person when:
* Creating relationships
* Major milestones
* Significant decisions made
* Building of trust
* Showing new creative concepts
* Discovery gathering, or knowledge engineering
* Creating consensus as a group
Over the phone or webex is sufficient for:
* Updates to presentations or analyses similar to those seen before
* Direct transfer of orders among people who have already met.
I have seen poor decisions made on both sides: consultants giving up a major trip and taking a phone call when in fact consensus was needed, or when their client relationship was shaky. I've also seen clients insist on face to face meetings continually even for matters where a phone call is sufficient.
The best account directors will think through the scenarios and consequences of each fly vs no-fly decision.
