Conducting a meeting with a client over the telephone, rather than in person, can present an extra challenge. Without the inherent discipline or the visual cues of a face-to-face meeting to guide both parties through the conversation, a poorly planned telephone meeting can result in misunderstandings and wasted time. And that can weaken the client/advisor relationship.

The keys to successful telephone meetings, say practice-management experts, are having a clear purpose, setting an agenda and working hard to make sure that both your client understands you and you understand your client.

“You put the same amount of thought and preparation into a phone meeting as you would an in-person meeting,” says Heather Beattie, senior manager of practice management at ScotiaMcLeod Inc. in Toronto. “And you have to be a little bit more mindful about what’s going on because you can’t read each other as easily as you would face to face.”

While it’s convenient and time-saving, meeting by telephone will always take a subordinate role to meeting in person, particularly when it comes to forging a strong relationship.

“It’s important to establish a relationship face to face first, so that a deep bond of trust can be built,” says Bill Charles, senior vice president of financial services with Investors Group Inc. in Toronto. “Only then does a telephone meeting become an effective way to communicate.”

Of course, how you communicate with each client, and how often, will depend upon the client’s preferences and your segmentation strategy. Top clients, in general, require more meetings — and more of them in person. Meetings by phone should be just one element of your relationship-management strategy, to be combined with email, newsletters, seminars and events. Each client’s needs are different.

“If the phone is not the client’s preferred communication method, or they’re not comfortable talking on the phone,” Charles says, “perhaps you shouldn’t engage in phone meetings, regardless of how well it works for you. You have to take the client’s needs into consideration first.”

Each telephone meeting must have a set purpose. If it’s a scheduled portfolio review, you must alert the client well before the date of the call, draw up a clear agenda and email or mail it to the client ahead of time.

Ask clients whether they would like to add anything to the agenda, or if they have any questions or concerns. Tell clients they should have their most recent statement on hand when you call.

“The biggest challenge with a phone review is that the client can be distracted and you can’t read them,” Beattie says. “An agenda anchors the client by giving them something to look at.”

If, for some reason, the client does not have an agenda with him or her at the time of the call, Beattie says, you should try to anchor the conversation by indicating when one section of the meeting is over and the next one is beginning.

Another advantage of having an agenda, Charles suggests, is that it can help keep the call to less than a half-hour, which is critical to how effective the meeting is.

“Having a person on the phone for an hour just does not work when dealing with financial matters,” Charles says. “Let’s face it: clients may be distracted by kids talking to them or the TV in the background or something else going on in the home. You want the call to be as brief as possible.”

To discuss complicated strategies that require more in-depth discussion, Charles says, you should make an in-person appointment instead.

When you call your client at the scheduled time, it’s vital that you first ascertain that you are indeed talking to the client and not someone else — a seemingly obvious but critical point.

“There may be multiple generations living in the same house,” Charles says. “For reasons of confidentiality, you must make sure you’re talking to the right person.”

The first few minutes of the call can be reserved for exchanging pleasantries and keeping up with what’s happening in the client’s life, which can have implications for the client’s investments or overall financial plan. From this opening discussion, segue into the agenda of the meeting.

Throughout the call, it’s important to ask questions designed to ensure that the client understands what you are discussing. This is particularly important if the client is expected to make decisions regarding transactions during the call. Without any visual clues, you must make sure that you and the client are on the same page.

@page_break@If more than one person is on the other end of the call — perhaps a couple discussing their accounts together — be sure to engage both clients in order to make sure they both agree to any decisions that are being made.

“You shouldn’t focus on one person over the other,” Charles says. “You need engagement from both spouses.”

It’s vital — and required for compliance purposes — that you take notes of the meeting, including date and time, the context of the call, a summary of decisions made and actions to be taken.

After the call, send a followup email or letter to the client, detailing what you discussed.

“It ensures that you and your client understand each other,” Charles says, “and are pursuing the agreed upon course of action.”

Before ending the phone meeting, it’s also advisable to establish a date and time for the next meeting, whether it will be by phone or in person.

While telephone meetings are an integral element in your overall communication and relationship-management strategy, regular in-person meetings — whether they occur quarterly or annually — are a must with every client.

“Personal engagement is the best way to build a strong and enduring client relationship,” Charles says. “And it’s important to know that telephone meetings cannot replace personal, face-to-face
discussions.” IE