This is not sustainable, is it?

[Namechangefail123]

I have a client facing job. I don't have that many meetings but when I do, I have to commute 6+ hours, and sometimes the only way to do it is driving. We can afford the commuting coats, however I don't think my company will be happy for me to waste two days to get to see a client, when most of my colleagues would only use 3-4 hrs tops.

Ok. Can I suggest that the first thing you look at, instead of commuting distance to clients, is your communication.

im sorry that you're worried about redundancies & I hope you're better at communicating with clients, but it's worth looking at communication with clients & your line manager.

how long have you had this job!

Then just do the travel but make sure you do the best job possible. If YOU secure the £200k deal, two days instead of one makes fuck all difference. You just need a bloody good hit rate. (& overnight accommodation!!)

I cover the whole of England in my job and have team members in Newcastle and Cornwall
and everywhere in between. I don’t live in England and spend a lot of time travelling. It’s part of the job.

AFAIK this is BAU. (As in the different teams visiting clients on site).

What's your relationship like with your clients?

It's good, but I only do consultancy work, do it's an engagement with a clear beginning and end.

Well, from what you’ve said OP, this issue is one which is only worrying you and not one that has been raised by management. In this case the 200K deal vs 50K deal surely makes any extra time and expense worthwhile. A few more comparisons like that and you’ve earned your keep!
However, if there is discussion of territories/ client lists etc at some point, there’s no harm mentioning some of the ideas from this thread.
Also, you haven’t actually said whether you absolutely have to stay living in Cornwall ?DC’s schools ?DP’s job etc?

Yes I have to stay here due to shared custody. At a push we could move to Exeter, but that's as far north as I'll move for now.

What the hell is “little boxes”?!

This thread is why I come to here for a giggle sometimes. The post makes no sense at all and the OP seems reluctant to explain in full exactly what she is asking yet folk are keen to give advice!!

OP please find out if you can meet your clients somewhere more central.

Well nobody meets the clients anywhere more central and we always go as a team. The whole idea of this thread is that I think it will eventually become a problem.

If your trip won a deal worth £200k then I’d argue the time and money spent was worth it.

Make your travelling time productive. Catch the train and work on it. I appreciate you say that there’s rarely WiFi on the train but it doesn’t stop you working. I used to travel a lot, offline. Just use the time to do other work (presentations, clear your email, etc). Once you come back online anything you’ve set to send goes and it’s obvious you’ve been using the time productively.

But nobody else is travelling 6 hours this way, which is probably why nobody's ever proposed it...

In fact, when I travelled for work, the client paid our travel expenses (we paid, my employer reimbursed and then reclaimed) so it was in their interest to compromise on location. How does it work for your business?

It's all pre-sales so we don't charge for visiting. On the other hand, for project management we would, but I'm not involved with that.

Use your phone to hotspot many ways to work efficiently while travelling

Are you worried that it is the actual £££ travel cost that is the issue to them - i.e. your expenses? Or are you expecting that your travel should all be during working hours and you are therefore less productive?

If it is the latter, then it is standard professional services MO, and always has been, that you travel predominantly in your own time. And especially that if you have chosen to live remotely you suck it up. If you have a meeting in Newcastle then you get up at 4am and get there for midday. You make up the lost morning hours by working longer on other days.

Yes to me, it's not so much about expensing my travel, but rather that I use full working days to get from A to B. I have a convention next week and it's just below 7 hours driving, but I need to be there by 7-8 in the evening so will use a lot my working hours yet again. The Christmas party is another example.

Your clarity and communication here is awful.

Are you saying that you put 8hrs travelling on your timesheet if you've spent a day travelling and don't do any client work in that whole day?

Why didn't you or your employer explore the logistics of the role as part of the hiring or onboarding?

In most companies with a travel role you have clear policies on what you can charge, when, why. Unless it's in a tiny firm. What are the actual policies and what does your line manager say?

Jesus op, just do a long post explaining everything rather than annoying drip feeds that still don’t answer people’s questions.

Sorry I’ve not read the whole thread but quickly skimmed. Not sure if you are aware but there is a flight from Newquay to Teesside airport which is in the North East

Teesside airport isn’t too far from Darlington train station (would need taxi) then approx half hour in train to Newcastle

Do you sell communication strategies?

Really? In our company, the economic climate and covid have tended to make everyone much happier to use zoom etc. Are in-person meetings really what's wanted by each client, or is this just a company policy which may only apply to a few?