If I could give myself only one piece of advice after 23 years in IT, it would be this: every time you start a conversation with a new brand, try to visit them.
There is no way an online call can describe a real business. Until you see the size of the warehouse and the departments of experts working inside it, you will never understand how important your project is to them.
What a call cannot show you
On a video call you get a face, a screen share and a list of requirements. You do not get the scale of the operation, the pressure on the warehouse team, the piles of stock that move if the site converts better, or the person whose day gets worse when the checkout breaks. You leave with a spec instead of an understanding.
Walking the floor changes the questions you ask. It is why I have taken the dev team to a client warehouse and why I drove to Leeds to meet a hosting partner rather than sending another email.
It changes the work, not just the relationship
When your developers have stood in the warehouse, they build differently. Priorities sort themselves out because everyone has seen what actually costs the business money. That context is the thing no brief captures and no AI can summarise for you, which is part of why human connection beats the polished version.
It also builds the trust that keeps a relationship going for years. The clients who stay are the ones who know we understand their business, not just their backlog. And when something breaks badly, being willing to show up in person is exactly why some problems cannot wait.
The cheapest investment you can make
A day of travel is nothing against the cost of building the wrong thing for six months. Go see the business. It is the highest-return habit I have, and it is the one I would tell my younger self to start on day one, the same way I would tell someone to get a job first and learn on someone else’s dime.
If you want a partner who will come and see your operation before quoting on it, book a call.