Face-⁠to-⁠face, phone or Teams: why face-⁠to-⁠face wins

A new client calls: they’re looking for a project manager. “Shall we do a quick Teams?” Half an hour later, you’ve got a vacancy. But you didn’t see the workplace, you don’t know how the line manager treats their people, and nobody told you why the last project manager left after six months.

In just a few years, Teams has become the standard, and that’s understandable: it’s quick and nobody’s stuck in traffic. Let’s not be naive about it: not every conversation has to be face-⁠to-⁠face. But at the moments that count, whoever sits across the table from their client and their candidate wins.

What each channel does well

The phone is your fastest tool. You qualify a candidate, check a detail with a client or follow up on an interview, in a few minutes. But you see nothing: no face, no workplace, no doubt in someone’s eyes.

Teams sits in between. You see each other, you share a CV or a plan and nobody has to travel. Handy for a quick check-⁠in or for a candidate who can’t get away during the day. But a screen keeps attention narrow, and someone’s inbox is often open right next to it.

Face-⁠to-⁠face takes the most time, and delivers the most. You see the workplace, the team and how someone reacts to a tough question. And you build a kind of trust that no screen gives you.

Why face-⁠to-⁠face wins

People say yes more often. Researchers at the universities of Waterloo and Cornell had participants ask strangers to fill in a short questionnaire, face-⁠to-⁠face or by email. Face-⁠to-⁠face was 34 times more successful. Whether you’re asking for exclusivity or a second interview: in person, it’s harder to say no.

You hear more, and you see more. Posture and a face say more than a voice on the phone. Across the table, a client tells you things they’d never put in an email, especially once the official part is over. And in the workplace, you see for yourself what your candidate is walking into.

Figuring things out together works better in one room. A study in Nature showed that pairs on video come up with fewer creative ideas than pairs sitting together at a table. Choosing between ideas worked just as well on video. So for an intake, where you work out with the client what they really need, you go face-⁠to-⁠face. To choose between two candidates, Teams will do.

You build a relationship. A candidate you’ve met in person is less quick to drop you. A client who knows you calls you first when a new vacancy comes up.

When to go face-⁠to-⁠face

• The intake with a new client. On site, ideally with the line manager there. You see the workplace, the people and the atmosphere, and that’s what you’ll be selling to your candidates later.
• The first meeting with a strong candidate. At the office, or in a coffee shop near their work. You qualify over the phone, but you want to have met anyone you actually put forward.
• Before the offer. With your candidate, to get their doubts and any counteroffer out on the table. With the client, to fine-⁠tune the offer together.
• When something goes wrong. You don’t help a candidate who’s wavering after a week, or an unhappy client, through a screen.
• Your regular clients, a few times a year. Without a vacancy, just to hear what’s going on. That way, you hear about vacancies before they’re posted.

The method: how to get the meeting

Six steps, from your proposal to the follow-⁠up.

01Suggest a specific time

Not “Shall we meet up some time?”, but “I’m in the area on Thursday, does ten o’clock work?” A concrete proposal is easier to say yes to.

02Give a reason that matters to them

To a client: “I want to see the workplace so I can tell your candidates what it’s really like.” To a candidate: “I only put forward people I know. That way, I can sell you better too.”

03Keep it short

An hour is enough, and you say so straight away. People who know it won’t take up their whole morning say yes more quickly.

04Plan smartly

Three or four meetings in the same area, on the same day. Combine a client with a candidate in the region, and the trip is time well spent straight away.

05If they really won’t: Teams, with the camera on

Better Teams than the phone. Ask whether the line manager can join, and suggest dropping by again later, for example when you’re in the area anyway.

06Follow up the same day

A short email with what you agreed and what the next step is. That way, everything’s on record and everyone knows what comes next.

What to say when someone would rather not meet

An example

Say a construction company is looking for a site manager and wants a quick Teams. You suggest coming by on Thursday, because you’ve got two other meetings in the area. On site, you meet the team, and after coffee the managing director tells you the last site manager left because they had no say in the schedule.

That wasn’t in any job ad. Your candidates now get the whole story, and they know why it’s different this time: the new site manager does get a say in the schedule. And when you suggest, there at the table, taking the vacancy on exclusively for a few weeks, the managing director says yes.

Checklist

• You qualify by phone and then choose your channel deliberately.
• You see every new client face-⁠to-⁠face, ideally with the line manager there.
• You’ve met everyone you actually put forward.
• Before an offer, you sit down across from your candidate.
• You plan three or four meetings in the same area.
• If someone really won’t, it’s Teams with the camera on.

Frequently asked questions

Isn’t Teams more efficient?

For a quick check-⁠in, yes. But efficient isn’t the same as effective: what you miss in information and trust, you pay for later, with candidates who drop out and clients who call another agency.

Does every candidate have to come into the office?

No. You qualify by phone. Face-⁠to-⁠face is for the people you actually put forward, and a coffee shop near their work is fine too.

How often do you visit a regular client?

A few times a year, even without a vacancy. That way, you hear what’s going on before the vacancies are even posted.

And if the client only wants to work online?

Then you respect that, and work on Teams with the camera on. Grab the first good opportunity to drop by anyway, for example on your candidate’s first day.

Sources

• University of Waterloo, A face-⁠to-⁠face request is 34 times more successful than an email, June 2017, on the study by M. Roghanizad and V. Bohns in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
• M. Brucks and J. Levav, Virtual communication curbs creative idea generation, Nature, 2022.