It’ good to talk, but better to get personal

I spent an interesting and productive day today in a meeting with management and staff from FleetPrices.co.uk reviewing their processes, web site and supporting back-end systems. It is always rewarding working with people who are passionate about what they do, have great ideas and are open minded to change that will help them work more efficiently and provide a better service to their customers. Now comes the hard part as we carry out the coding and testing of new software.
With so many forms of communication available to us it is easy to slip into the habit of communicating with customers solely by email or phone. Today has been a good reminder that neither are a substitute for getting together in the same room. Meeting people and the formal and informal conversation that ensues builds stronger working relationships and leads to benefits to both parties that were not on the agenda or likely to have been foreseen.