Can anything really replace a good face-to-face customer meeting? — On Product Management

Can anything really replace a good face-to-face customer meeting? — On Product Management:

Recently I managed to get out for a few days to meet with some customers. I talk to customers every month, but the vast majority of those discussions are by phone/webinar. And while a fair number of those calls are informative, it’s easy to forget what you lose in a conversation, when the other person (or people) are simply disembodied voices traveling across the phone line.

via Can anything really replace a good face-to-face customer meeting? — On Product Management.

It’s rather amazing the difference in the information transfer found in a face-to-face meeting over a phone call. I find that in-person interviews go deeper than the surface issues uncovered during a phone call. Maybe it’s just easier to be open and honest with someone when you’re in the same room.

Or maybe as Saeed explains, “We are social creatures, but the huge irony of communication technology, and “social media” is that they claim to increase ‘connection’ and ‘engagement’ while simultaneously minimizing human contact.”