You are about to meet a new prospect who has been referred to you by a top client. How can you be sure you will make the most of this valuable opportunity?

You must have a consistent process for meeting with new prospects, says Keith Weber, a certified financial planner and president of Weber Consulting Group in Fort Collins, Colo. A process, he says, gives you control over the meeting.

Weber offers these five tips to help you find an effective first-meeting process:

1. Find the client’s “itch”
First, find out what the prospect is looking for from you.

“People don’t set meetings with financial advisors just to enjoy their company,” Weber says. “There’s some ‘itch,’ something that motivated them to set that appointment, to come in and get answers from you about something.”

Ask the prospect: What do you hope to get from this meeting?

That way, you will know the prospect’s expectations. And you will know how you can add value for him or her right away.

2. Start digging
Use the first meeting with a prospect to get to know him or her.

Ask a few basic questions to get a sense of the potential client’s situation, Weber says, and what he or she is looking for. The answers to these questions can help you to begin to see how, if at all, you can help him or her.

If, for example, the prospect tells you that he or she is unhappy with a current advisor, ask what the prospect would like to accomplish, and what are his or her financial goals. Avoid asking for specifics about what he or she doesn’t like about the current advisor, he says. This meeting is about the client’s goals and how you can help them.

3. Keep it light
Remember, it’s a first meeting. You are not going to find out everything about this client.

“There is no topic that’s off-limits but, there is a limit of depth,” Weber says. “Stay at a broader, ‘overview’ level until the scope of the engagement is identified.”

That “level of engagement” could range from agreeing to meet again, to setting up an account with you and building a relationship.

4. Talk about fees
“When you have that fee conversation up front,” Weber says, “it removes the 700-pound gorilla from the room.”

Make sure you explain your own fee structure, he says, as well as the other options available in the industry. That way, prospects won’t feel as if you were hiding something from them if they hear about other ways of paying for financial advice from family or friends.

5. Save the sales talk
The first meeting should be about building trust with a prospect, not selling him or her a product.

You can’t make a recommendation for a product, Weber says, until you completely understand the new client’s financial situation. That level of understanding will require more than one meeting.