November 22, 2011
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Unless you achieve a few key objectives, your client meetings will be unproductive. You need to calm your clients’ nerves, reassure them about their portfolio and instill confidence that they're working with the right advisor.
Your job is to make clients see those meetings as addressing their unique situation and as driven squarely by their agenda, not yours.
I recently set out some guidelines for effective client meetings. I firmly believe in Stephen Covey's precept to "Seek to understand before seeking to be understood." Here's a three-step process to make that happen:
Step one: Start with an agenda
I’ve written several articles about the role of meeting agendas. That’s because conversations with hundreds of successful advisors have convinced me that done right, a written meeting agenda is a powerful tool to maximize the chances that meetings will work.
For an agenda to be effective, clients have to see it as their agenda, not yours. One way to achieve that is to establish an agenda when you call to set up their review.
During that call, you could say:
"I have a couple of things I'd like to cover when we get together, but first, what are the key questions you'd like to get answered and things you'd like to deal with when we meet?"
Sit back and listen. The answer will be the core of the meeting agenda, to which you'll add any additional items.
Step two: Set the client's key goal for the meeting
Another key to making meetings work is to set clear, written goals for them. Going into every meeting, you should write down two objectives – first, what do you hope to achieve that will leave the client better off and second, what’s your objective for the meeting that will advance your business and leave you better off. Even if that second goal is no more than leaving clients reassured and less vulnerable to defection, it’s still important to put that down in writing, so you’re focused on what you need to achieve.
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