Clients have different expectations of you than prospects do, and an understanding of these needs should drive your preparation for client meetings and reviews.
While prospects need to know who you are and gain early confidence in your capabilities and deliverables, existing clients need to see the value you are delivering for them. This will be all the more challenging if you have not engaged with them personally since their last review meeting, or if you haven’t delivered value by way of insights and educational articles. I will deal with that in more detail in an article I will share soon.
This is not to say that you should not take the opportunity, when appropriate, to re-position yourself with clients and ensure they have up-to-date knowledge and understanding of who you are, but it is the value you are (or should be) delivering to them that is top of their mind.
Accordingly, your preparation for existing client meetings needs to be different to that of prospect meetings, and perhaps different from what you have always done.
You need to be sure that the value you are delivering (of course you are delivering value) is demonstrated.
It is not enough to deliver value, you must also be sure your clients recognise the value you are delivering.
And how you prepare for each meeting can make a big difference to your client’s perception of your performance as their financial adviser, and your ongoing relationship.
Your preparation should include several very specific elements that support and reinforce these messages.
Financial advice clients want to know how you (and their portfolio) are performing, what you have done to ensure their ongoing financial well-being, market, economy, and industry overviews, amongst other things.
You should also prepare an agenda, which includes specific questions that will demonstrate that your client is your priority. Perhaps even research some things that they did not expect, like the property values in their suburb (if they own a property that is) or the things that are happening in and around their community.
It may also be valuable to spend a few minutes researching what is happening in their industry, profession, or the company that they work for. After all, they most likely spend two-thirds of their waking life working. Imagine how personal and powerful that will be when you share your new understanding.
Each client will have both common needs and expectations (those all of your clients have) and most importantly will have needs and expectations that are specific, and sometimes exclusive, to them.
Keep an eye out for my next article:
“What are imperative needs and how do you bring them to life?”
Do you know what these specific needs and expectations are?
What are the key elements of your preparation for client meetings?
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