Your job as host of a client event is to make your clients feel comfortable with you and your business.

Your clients will connect your behaviour as a host to your abilities as a financial advisor, says Joanne Blake, owner of Style for Success Inc. in Edmonton. If you appear confident and at ease, clients will feel that their investments are well taken care of. If you appear frazzled and under pressure at the event, clients may start to wonder how you handle their finances.

Here are five mistakes to avoid when hosting a client event:

1. Failing to research your guest list
Use your client contact management system, says Blake, to familiarize yourself with the clients you expect at the event.

Read through the files quickly to remind yourself about each client’s interests and their families, she says. This will help you make small talk when guests arrive and will make clients feel important.

2. Forgetting to greet people
Make sure clients are greeted at the door when they arrive at the event.

Have one or more of your team members at the door to welcome each guest personally, Blake says. Make sure the team member let’s you know when each guest has arrived.

3. Leaving guests with their coats
Remember to have someone taking coats as clients arrive.

That may sound like a small detail, Blake says. But if it’s overlooked, clients are left holding their coats feeling awkward — and not enjoying themselves.

4. Chatting with colleagues instead of guests
Remember, the event is for your clients — not you. So make sure all of your guests are introduced to people and are mingling.

Advisors and staff members may have a tendency to “circle the wagons,” Blake says. That means they talk among themselves and ignore other guests.

While the event is meant to be social, she says, you are still at work. Make sure you are introducing your clients to others, that they are chatting with other guests and that they have a beverage if they want one.

5. Giving a flat introduction
Avoid awkward moments by making a connection between clients when doing introductions.

If you introduce people by giving just their names, Blake says, an awkward lull may follow. Instead, mention something the two guests might have in common to start a conversation. That’s where doing your homework comes in handy.

For example, if you know both clients have recently travelled to the same location, mention it during the introduction.