Can I meet my client in-person?
At Virtalent we have a deliberate “remote-first” culture that we’re incredibly proud of. This means that everyone, from our Client Success Manager through to our accountants in Staffordshire, work together 100% online. We haven't had an office since we launched the company in 2014!
It's rare for most clients to meet their VA in-person too.
However, we do appreciate that you might like to meet your client in person at some point, especially if you have worked with each other for some time.
We don't openly advertise this to new clients, but if you have already started working with a client and you feel meeting with them would be beneficial, we are happy for this to happen.
Please remember, however:
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Please let your Client Success Manager know this is happening, so that we are aware.
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Both you and your client must be happy with this arrangement. Meeting with a client is in not compulsory or something you 'should' do - it is optional. We are an online-only service and so your client should not expect you to do this.
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The time you spend traveling (door-to-door) and meeting with the client must be logged to their account. This is time that you can't spend working on other tasks for other clients (or doing anything else), so we feel this is a fair approach. Please ensure you make your client aware of this and that this is agreed beforehand.
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You'll need to ask the client reimburse any reasonable travel costs you incur. Please try to estimate these in advance of your meeting and let your client know what to expect, then upload the expense to the portal as soon as possible (then simply add it to your next invoice so we can reimburse you).
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You should not be meeting with a client on a regular basis. This should be a Christmas party, a rare in-person 'catch up' or an important annual meeting, not a regular weekly meeting with all other staff.
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You should not be working per se. You shouldn't be re-organising a client's filing system or distributing flyers at a conference, for example. The emphasis is on meeting with the client.
Please speak with your Client Success Manager about the meeting if you are unsure.