Client meetings: in person or virtual?

To Zoom or not to Zoom with clients? That is the question — and the answer isn’t straightforward.

A study released last month by Kansas State University and commissioned by the Canadian Foundation for Financial Planning finds that client preferences for video versus in-person meetings may change based on their relationship with their financial planner. 

About two-thirds (68%) of planners surveyed said they used virtual meetings often or always, but just one in 10 planners wanted to meet virtually during the initial relationship-building phase with the client.

The study found that 57% of planners reported moderate or extreme challenges building relationships virtually, and 66% reported challenges with reading nonverbal cues. 

“An impersonal communication medium is entirely satisfactory for impersonal task completion, tasks such as completing paperwork or gathering data for the financial planning process,” the report said. “However, … face-to-face meetings still hold an edge for meetings aimed at building rapport.” 

Planners also noted difficulty with virtual meetings for older clients who aren’t tech savvy and for multi-person conversations, such as with couples. Planners also preferred meeting in person to discuss emotional topics, as over half (56%) believed clients are more open in face-to-face interactions. 

However, clients did not have the same preferences for in-person meetings as planners. Only 39% of clients preferred meeting in person for complex or sensitive matters; the rest said their preference doesn’t change due to the meeting’s content. 

A quarter of clients said their preference for meeting format changes over time depending on their relationship with the planner, and 11% said it depended on other factors. (The study did not reveal what those other factors were.)

Despite these differences between planners and clients, just 41% of clients reported their planner let them choose between virtual or in-person for each discussion. Meanwhile, 31% said they were not asked at all and the rest only got to choose for the first meeting. 

“The diversity in clients’ responses shows a need for planners to intentionally ask their clients’ preferences rather than making assumptions based on client characteristics or session content,” the report said. 

The bilingual study included 445 planners and 633 clients in Canada surveyed between June 6 and 29, 2023.