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No matter how many hours you spend on their affairs, it’s when you talk to clients that really count, whether on the phone or in meetings.
Last week I spoke to an advisor who structures his week to spend maximum time with clients – he typically has 12 to 15 meetings a week, preferably face-to-face, but if that’s not possible over the phone.
How should advisors maximize the impact of their “face time” with clients? Here are three steps to effective client conversations: speak, listen and pause.
The 60-second rule
How to win multi-million dollar clients
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Dan Richards
ClientInsights-President
6 Adelaide Street E, Suite 400
Toronto ON M5C 1T6
(416) 900-0968
An effective conversation, whether in person or on the phone, begins with clearly defined goals.
I’ve written in the past that you should have at least two goals for every client interaction; ideally, you will put those goals in writing. First and most important, you should have a goal that if achieved will make clients better off and advance their agenda. Once that has been accomplished, you should also have a secondary goal that will advance your business and your agenda; that goal may be as basic as solidifying client confidence and your relationship or it could encompass broadening the areas in which you work.
I’ve also written about the benefits of a written agenda to help shape the meeting –both advisors and clients have told me how a written agenda keeps a meeting on track and delivers greater value for the time spent.
So you have clear goals and a written agenda going into a meeting – what next?
Ask most advisors what determines an effective conversation, and the most common (and absolutely incorrect) answer is “what you say.”
But the first determinant of an effective conversation is not what you say, but how you say it. You need to make your key points not just with conviction, but with brevity and in a way that engages clients. How long does the average client give you their full attention before their mind starts begins wandering and they begin tuning out?
The terrifying answer: 60 seconds.
That’s true in face-to-face meetings and even more the case over the phone. As a result, when talking to clients, you need to hit your key points quickly and succinctly. More important, if you’re like many advisors, you need to turn your monologue into a conversation by getting clients involved with questions. One way to make that happen is to make notes beforehand of the key points you’re going to make and to write down questions to ask, perhaps on a copy of the agenda you’ve prepared to guide the meeting.
The impact of taking notes
The second step, once you’ve got clients talking, is to give listening to what they’re saying 100% of your attention.
One of the best ways to do this is to ask for permission to take notes and jot down key points that you’re hearing. If you hear something that you want to respond to, write down two words so you’re not worried about forgetting it and then refocus on what the client is saying.
You can carry taking notes too far – you need to maintain eye contact. But not only has taking notes proven to help you listen better (even if you never look at those notes again) but it communicates to clients your interest in listening to what they have to say.
You also need to get in the habit of asking clients to elaborate – three of the most underused words are “ Tell me more.”
The power of a pause
The third step in holding effective client conversations is to develop the habit of pausing after clients finish making a point … not a long, awkward pause, but just three beats.
That short pause accomplishes several things.
Sometimes, clients will go on with the point they just finished – and you’re hear important points that you would otherwise have missed.
It gives you a brief moment to collect your thoughts about how you’re going to respond. (Remember, you were giving your client your undivided attention, not thinking about what you would say when they paused for a breath.)
And if the client doesn’t fill that three-beat pause, it gives your response more impact. By leaving that short pause, clients pay more attention to what you say.
Getting in front of clients is always valuable, but it’s particularly critical in uncertain times such as we’re in today. But spending face time is only the start – to get maximum impact, incorporate one of the strategies from these three steps into your client conversations.
conducts programs to help advisors gain and retain clients and is an award winning faculty member in the MBA program at the University of Toronto. To see more of his written and video commentaries, go to www.clientinsights.ca. Use A555A for the rep and dealer code to register for website access.
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