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Written by: Micah Shilanski
We’ve all been there. We glance at our calendar for the day, see a meeting scheduled, and think, “Shoot, I should have thought of a good reason to cancel that yesterday.” Whether it’s a disengaged meeting partner, an inconvenient time, or someone who won’t stop talking, there are a million reasons for your clients to hate meetings.
Despite this, you can use meetings to leverage lifelong, mutually beneficial relationships with clients by taking just a few simple steps to amp up your meeting cadence. Envision a world where instead of popping onto Zoom out of obligation, your clients are busting down your door to get in because they love speaking with you that much.
Deliver Massive Value with Well-Orchestrated Surge Meetings
In our previous podcast, we discussed the value of surge meetings. If you’re looking for a meeting structure that provides your clients with regular updates and you with some consistency and peace of mind, be sure to check it out. In this episode, however, we discuss what habits to bring into these meetings to ensure your client knows that you are a champion for their financial success.
It’s all about body language!
Whether you’re on Zoom or in-person, nothing says disengaged like a financial advisor who spends the meeting leaned back, looking anywhere but the client. Keep your back straight, with your shoulders open, and maintain an appropriate level of eye contact.
Be mindful of your hand gestures and any other form of nonverbal communication. While leaning back may feel comfortable to you, it may look disengaged to your client. Consider mirroring their body language back at them to offer them a meeting mood that suits their feelings.
Name the deviation.
Whether you’re getting up to grab a laptop charger or looking to the left to view your calendar, narrate that to your client. It is a natural assumption to assume that the person you are meeting with is multitasking or otherwise disengaged in this day and age. Show your client how much they matter by communicating any actions that could be viewed as distractions and explaining why you are taking those actions during their meeting. For example, “I’m looking at my monitor because it has your account report on it–I want to make sure I quote this data accurately.”
Take your time!
Nobody wants to go to a meeting with the guy who delivers a thirty-minute monologue and then dismisses them from his office. So no matter the strategy you plan to implement, give yourself deliberate pause points throughout the meeting. Whether it’s a sip of coffee to remind yourself to give your clients time to digest the discussion, or the natural pause that comes from detailed note-taking, plan a way to ensure that there is space for all parties to think profoundly and engage thoughtfully throughout the meeting.