I have a question about presenting the needs and options review and about initial meetings. Sounds like a few people on the forum have advocated _not_ doing a site visit for the initial meeting, opting to meet at the office or at a neutral location like a cafe. That makes perfect sense to me. We’ve met potential clients at a cafe before and also have done an initial meeting by phone and that has worked to sell the NOR.
However, I just got contacted by a neighbor considering a home renovation, asking whether I could drop by. I agree that these initial visits without an NOR start to blur the line between free advice and paid consult, but we work virtually and don’t have an official office, and they are so close to where I live that it might seem silly to propose meeting at a nearby cafe or a phone meeting (it would be nice to meet them in person) instead of at their house.
I could suggest a smaller paid $250 or $350 initial site visit (no NOR report), but I think they would wonder what they are getting out of that paid visit that they couldn’t get from another architect for free.
Would you agree to that initial meeting just to have a chance to meet in person?
