Home working dilemma - client meetings at homeMaria and Anne have recently posted comments on the subject of customers coming into the home, and this morning, as I was tidying the kitchen in preparation for some associates of A’s coming for a meeting, I was reminded of an experience we had that might be worth passing on.

I have always aimed to be ready by the time of the appointment, which seems fair enough.  Even so, despite your best intentions, it can sometimes be a scramble to get the house tidy before the client arrives.  You prepare what is needed for the appointment, whether it’s paperwork or materials, and then realise the carpet needs a quick vacuum or the bathroom is scuzzy!

But what if the client is actually early?  And not just a couple of minutes, but seriously early, when you are still shoving things into cupboards or finishing the washing-up.  For some reason it had never occurred to me it might happen.  I suppose I just assumed that if someone driving to see us was that early, they would pull off the road and make some calls, read the paper or something.  It’s not like going to an office, where there is a reception area, or the doctor’s, where there’s a waiting room.  This is our home, and even friends don’t turn up that early when they’ve been invited.

But looking at it from the client’s point of view, they are coming to see a professional and if they happen to be early, then they expect the professional to accommodate it in some way.  They are concerned with their business, or their health, the reason they are seeing you, not whether the kids have been packed off to nursery yet or there are still cups on the breakfast table.

So now, I try to be ready at least 15 minutes before the time arranged, to avoid that heart-lurching moment when the bell rings and you think ‘No, it can’t be…’