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The best advisors in our profession have been doing some version of “surge” meetings (e.g., grouping your client review meetings during blocks of time throughout the year) for decades. However, the concept has moved from hallway discussions at conferences to the top of every expert and consultant's best-practices list.
This is great news if done correctly; surge meetings are one of the most transformative strategies an advisor can implement to deliver massive value in a highly efficient manner, allowing them to operate with healthy profit margins and one of the best work/life balances of any profession.
That said, many advisors should not be doing surge meetings and in fact, should not be meeting with clients, period! Why? Because unless you are delivering massive value in every client meeting, save the client the time and hassle of meeting with you. Instead let them enjoy their day without having to listen to your market commentary and reading aloud their investment statements.
I know, I know. Your meetings are special because you show them XYZ planning software, you have cool PowerPoint slides, and your Zoom meetings have a fancy background. But does your client think this is valuable, or are they just sitting through the meeting because it's what they are supposed to do?
Here are four signs that you should cancel all your client meetings until you're able to deliver sufficient value:
1. You wouldn't pay the client to meet with you. Assuming you are working with real clients and not freeloaders, the client is paying you for this meeting in some way or another. But what if the roles were reversed? What if you had to pay the client for their time? Let's say clients charge you $1,000 per meeting. Is your meeting content so valuable to their financial success that you would be willing to pay that fee, or would you start having them skip most of the meetings? Action Item: Set a value threshold for having a client meeting. No/low value = no meeting.
2. The meeting is focused on what you think is important. Imagine going to the doctor's office with terrible ear pain from what is likely an ear infection. After the initial intake and vitals from the nurse, the doctor comes in and starts talking about your knee. Not wanting to be rude, you let the doctor go on and on about your knee, and she is clearly passionate about the topic. As the doctor stands to leave, you finally blurt out, “But what about my ear pain?” The doctor responds, as she walks out the door, '... I'll send you a follow-up email about that…" As crazy as that sounds, having sat in on and/or watched hundreds of advisor meetings (and having made this mistake myself countless times during the early years of my career), this scenario plays out all the time in client meetings. Action Item: Early and often find out what is on the client’s mind and tie all other discussions directly back to their concerns.
3. You're asking binary/closed questions (e.g., yes/no). Related to the last point, recently, an industry expert suggested that advisors start their client meetings by asking, "Is there anything you would like to add to the agenda?" While the intention behind this question is noble, the rock-star advisor never asks yes/no questions. Why? Because it's too easy for clients to answer 'no' reflexively. The rock-star advisor knows a far better question is, "I've got several things for us to discuss today, but first, what questions or concerns are on your mind?" Followed by 'What else?" and again "What else?". Action Item: Start recording in meetings how many times you asked closed-ended questions. The only exception? "Is that ok with you?"
4. You're burying the client in noise. I recently reviewed a client Zoom meeting recording for an advisor, who in the meeting decided the most valuable use of the client's time was to go line by line through a client's account explaining why they owned each holding. Despite having a moderately successful practice (sub $1 million of revenue), the advisor completely missed the client's body language from engaged to barely staying awake. Clients come to you to filter through all the noise, not give them more. Action Item: Filter everything through the lens of 'is this personal, actionable advice, or could Google tell them the same thing?"
If one (or all) of these reasons for canceling your client meetings sounds familiar, don't despair! All of these are skills that can be learned. How do I know this? Because I made all these same mistakes early in my career, and to this day, I'm constantly focused on how to deliver massive value in client meetings. Here are three quick action items for improving your client meetings:
1. Record the meeting and go back to watch it, specifically looking at the client's body language, the number of closed-ended questions you asked, and the actionable advice you gave.
2. Approach the most successful advisor you can think of and ask them for their most valuable tips on delivering massive value in client meetings
3. (shameless plug alert) Study my book, Delivering Massive Value, and attend a free power session my partner, Micah, and I are sharing with the industry on how to double the value of your client meetings by visiting www.ThePerfectRIA.com.
And until next time, happy planning!
Matthew Jarvis is the founder of Jarvis Financial, a Seattle-based investment management and financial planning firm managing over $100M of AUM for around 150 retirees. Find him here.
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
