The magic of meetings

1. Change your mindset on meetings

The key breakthrough for Peter came in the autumn of 2011 after Peter recorded his activities for a month to review how he was spending his time. He was surprised to discover that he was averaging only three to four client meetings per week.

Peter resolved to make increasing the number of face-to-face meetings his top priority for 2012. He sat down with his two assistants, explained his goal of significantly increasing client meetings and involved them in a discussion of how to achieve that goal. The outcome was that more meetings have become the overarching focus of the entire practice.

This new focus on meetings includes systematically tracking progress in this area. For instance, when Peter meets with his assistants on Monday mornings, the first item they discuss is the number of client meetings that took place the previous week and the number scheduled for the week ahead.

2. Block meetings into your calendar

Out of the conversation with Peter’s team came a very simple idea: unless Peter is out of the office for a firm event or industry conference or on holiday, he schedules four meetings every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The meeting times are the same every day, taking place at approximately two-hour intervals between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Peter also blocks out time on Monday to meet with his assistants to review the preparation for those meetings and on Friday to discuss the need for any followup arising out of the current week’s meetings.

Getting those meeting slots filled has become the principal responsibility of Peter’s senior assistant. This strategy has changed both Peter’s focus and that of his assistants. As a result, the entire team works together to ensure that the meeting time slots are filled.

3. Plan for more productive meetings

Peter also wanted to ensure that his client meetings are more effective. He changed three things to make that happen. First, each autumn, he sits down with his assistants to identify two key goals for each of his top 100 clients for the coming year. The team looks for one goal that will advance the client’s agenda and a second goal that will advance Peter’s agenda.

These goals are used to drive the meeting agendas. Before contacting a client for an appointment, the person making the call reviews both the objectives for the client and the notes from the previous meeting. After asking clients what questions they’d like to cover in the upcoming meeting, if the two key goals haven’t been addressed, they are added to the agenda.

Another change was made to make meetings more productive: one of Peter’s assistants sits in on every client meeting and drafts notes that outline the next steps. These include matters such as topics discussed, what Peter and his team are going to do, what the client committed to and items to be discussed at the next meeting. At the end of each day, Peter briefly reviews these notes to ensure nothing has been missed, then the notes are mailed or emailed to the relevant clients within 24 hours.

4. Motivate clients to meet

Historically, Peter had struggled to get some of his top clients to meet with him. He and his assistants did several things to address this. Peter’s assistants identified one big barrier for many clients coming in to meet at his office: the cost of parking beneath his building. So, the firm negotiated an arrangement to allow it to validate parking at a rate considerably less than the usual $12 an hour. For some clients, that was all it took to get them to come in.

Next, going into each meeting, Peter identifies when he wants to meet next. Depending on the client, this might be in three, six or 12 months. Peter wraps up each meeting by saying: “I’d like to schedule a followup meeting in six months [or whatever the suitable frequency is] to talk about [whatever hot-button issue needs to be dealt with]. Does this work for you?”

As a result of Peter suggesting a date and also outlining what will be discussed, most clients agree and the next meeting is booked before each client leaves the current meeting. Clients get a written record of the next appointment time, as well as an emailed invitation. One of Peter’s assistants follows up 30 days before the next meeting to confirm the time and to finalize the agenda. A final reminder call takes place three business days before the meeting, asking each client whether there are any questions to be added to the agenda.

Another practice that’s increased meetings is using the 11 a.m. time slot for Peter’s highest-value clients. He generally asks if they are free to join him and, on occasion, his assistant, for lunch afterward. Not all clients agree, but many take Peter up on the offer to join him at a nice but not overly expensive restaurant nearby.

Peter has found that the opportunity for an informal conversation over lunch deepens bonds. When another advisor in Peter’s office questioned the expense, Peter answered that lunch for him and his assistant with a client costs less than $100. Even if he spent $12,000 a year on this, having regular lunches with his top clients would be the best possible use of marketing dollars.

5. Make client meetings the central focus of your assistant’s job

Increasing Peter’s time in client meetings meant that he had to off-load some other tasks. One decision was to make his assistants the first point of contact for clients’ questions. Clients are divided up between Peter’s two assistants, who have responsibility for quarterly calls to any clients on her list who hadn’t been talked to in the past 90 days, checking in to ensure that there are no outstanding questions that needed to be addressed. To free up time for the assistants, a college intern was hired for 15 hours a week after classes to help with routine administration and filing.

Peter also has redefined staff duties, including putting his senior assistant in charge of client operations. And either she or his other assistant sit in on client meetings and are in charge of the meeting notes. Peter also has changed the bonuses for his assistants, linking them more closely to success in scheduling meetings and making quarterly check-in calls to clients.

– the payoff

Peter told me that he expected these changes to result in deepened relationships, but he didn’t anticipate just how positive the impact would be. The benefits include:

– Higher client satisfaction

Increasing face-to-face contact and focusing clearly on objectives that leave the people who Peter works with better off has resulted in more satisfied clients. Making Peter’s assistants the first point of contact also has worked well.

Peter receives regular feedback on how much clients enjoy dealing with his assistants. Furthermore, since Peter has intensified his focus on meetings, there has been an increase in referrals, often in the period immediately after lunches with his top clients.

– Increased revenue

Since launching this initiative two years ago, Peter has made substantial progress on his own goals for top clients: getting their agreement to move to a fee-based platform, consolidating assets held by other advisors, improving relationships with spouses and adult children and getting introduced to their accountants. As a result, Peter has seen a marked improvement in practice revenue and profitability.

– Improved work satisfaction

This third positive outcome was the most unexpected. Since implementing the initiative, both Peter and his assistants come to work more enthused about the day ahead. Peter knows that his clients are happier, and he enjoys his time with them. His assistants feel they are more engaged in the business, with more autonomy and responsibility – all key drivers for employee happiness.

As you think about the upcoming year, ask yourself the same question that Peter did: am I maximizing my time in front of clients? If the answer is no, consider that some of the approaches that worked for Peter might work for you.

There’s no shortage of New Year’s resolutions to choose from. But, for many advisors, increasing the number of productive client meetings should be at the top of your list. IE

Dan Richards is CEO of Clientinsights (www.clientinsights.ca) in Toronto. For more of Dan’s columns and videos, visit www.investmentexecutive.com.

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