Digital Nomad Life - Meeting With Clients Digitally
Picture it - you have a video call set with your major client. The client is a big American company, highly professional, 5 days a week in the office type of firm. You are working from a modest apartment in Latin America. You know your business better than anyone - but will your client see that? Or will they only see the cool shirt you are wearing and the oddly textured wall behind you?
We like to think that results speak for themselves, and after we have developed a working relationship, they often do. But when the relationship is new, a little more care is called for. Even with a good referral, if a client in certain industries is faced with two options - one corporate type in a suit and a professional office and another wearing a Tommy Bahama shirt at a dining room table with piles of laundry in the background- which is the Fortune 500 corporate purchasing director going to go with? They should go with the one who is able to live abroad - doing this successfully is more impressive than just showing up at an office. They will likely, however, go with the one who looks like he fits in with their culture.
This may be a great environment for a lot of things, but for a meeting with a corporate VP and her legal team? Maybe not.
How To Present a Professional Image From the Road
Some of the answers are pretty obvious - and yet, so many miss them. Give a little thought to your background. I once sat on the floor with my laptop on a coffee table because it gave me a very plain, finished looking wall behind me. It wasn’t particularly comfortable, but it looked the part.
It is similar with dress and grooming. Not every client will expect you to suit up for every meeting - the pandemic got us used to seeing professionals in more casual dress. But for an important meeting, or especially with a brand new client, maybe give a little extra thought. I work with a lawyer on a number of files, and he kids me that I always wear a dress shirt to Teams meetings with new clients. Even with established clients, putting a little effort on appearance sends a message that they are imprortant.
One lifesaving tool is a simple green screen. It doesn’t have to be much - in fact, with nomad life you need something compact. (Check out the one I use on my Etsy shop - HERE). Find a way to hang this, or even pin it to the wall, and use a virtual background. With a good webcam and a green screen the virtual background works so much better, usually without the weird digital artifacts around your head.
On the subject of webcams - I use Lumina. (Note - I am not an affiliate, I get no money from this recommendation). You really want a webcam that lets you adjust the brightness, contrast, and white balance. Lumina has some tech to adjust the framing and also has its own background blurring tech. The point is - you want the meeting to focus on the content, now how strange you look or even how much better your life is than your client’s. They are in an office with plain walls and fluorescent lights, you might be in a room with dark orange walls and natural sunlight streaming in. All of this affects how you look.
Telling Your Client Where You Are
Although I don’t always bring it up initially, I am pretty open about where I live. Although the client doesn’t need constand reminders that while they are stuck in traffic behind a snowplow you are 20 minutes away from a beachfront margarita, it is usually best not to keep it a complete secret. Sometimes they admire you for it, or at least assume you must be good at your job to support such a life. (Which is probably true).
It is often best if you can reference a home base in an “appropriate” location - a major city in the client’s market. For me I have an official business address in Toronto, and I am able to return easily if an in-person meeting is absolutely necessary. Then comments like “I winter in Cancun” sound more like a minor brag rather than an apology. (For thoughts on different ways to Digital Nomad - check out THIS post)
This is key. If you make it sound like your digital nomad life is something to apologize for, then that is exactly how the client will see it. While there are potential disadvantages - you can’t make an in person meeting this afternoon, for example - these are not real issues. With technology, air travel, and good planning, you can give top-shelf service to your clients, and deserve to be paid for it. The fact that you can do so while living abroad speaks to your competence and success.
But try to put on a decent shirt, ok?
