Get more out of your meetings — top tips from Jim Rogers (Part 2 of 2)

As a financial advisor, the best possible use of your valuable time is meeting with clients and prospective clients. But are you getting the most out of these meetings? Top advisor Jim Rogers, chair of Vancouver-based Rogers Group Financial and an Advisor’s Edge Career Achievement Award honouree, shares some of the tips and procedures he uses to hold more effective meetings.

To read Jim Rogers’ first five tips, please click here.

6. State how long the meeting is going to take, then stick to it. "There’s nothing worse than seeing people fidgeting. They give off body signals that suggest they want to be out of there, and part of the reason for that is that they didn’t know how long they were going to be there in the first place," says Rogers. Manage clients’ expectations by stating how long the meeting will take and asking if that’s alright with them before you get started. Once they know what to expect, they can settle in.

Meeting Guide Template Jim Rogers uses a meeting guide in preparation for and during meetings with clients. It allows him to set down his objectives, make sure he has any relevant support material needed for the meeting and make notes—all in one document. To download a template of his meeting guide, please click here.

Meeting tip: Meetings should never take longer than an hour. "People simply don’t have that kind of attention span, busy people in particular," stresses Rogers. If what you have to say is going to take longer than an hour, have another meeting.

7. Use language that facilitates open communication. When meeting with clients and prospective clients, you want them to be as open as possible. The more information you have about the client, the better you will be able to help them.

Meeting tip: Rogers offers two language tips that can make a difference:

• Don’t use "why" questions. "Why" questions can make you sound like a detective or reporter. You want to sound interested in what they have to tell you, not judgmental. Instead, Rogers recommends using phrases like, "Please tell me more about…[fill in the blank]."
• Use the word "concerns" instead of "goals." Advisors tend to use the word "goals" in relation to financial plans or other specific financial objectives. But ask a client what their goals are and they may come up blank. Rogers instead prefers to use the word "concerns."

"In my opinion [advisors] have the goals," he says. "People that are getting financial advice have financial concerns they want us to deal with," says Rogers. "Concerns such as: Can I afford to retire and maintain my lifestyle? Will I have enough money to put my kids through college? Will my spouse have an adequate continuing income if tomorrow I die or become permanently disabled?"

8. Take detailed notes. Keeping thorough meeting notes will help you keep track of your clients’ needs and what’s important to them. During a meeting, Rogers likes to take notes directly on his meeting agenda in red ink so that they’re easy to identify afterwards. After the meeting, he suggests using a Dictaphone to record your meeting notes (using the ones scrawled on your agenda as a guide) and then having your assistant transcribe them.

Rogers points out that you’re likely to record fewer file notes if you have to write them out after the meeting. You’re more likely to include details that at the time may seem trivial but may ultimately turn out to be very important, if you dictate your notes in a "stream of consciousness fashion."

Meeting tip: If you get into a difficult or emotional issue during the meeting, don’t snap to attention and write it down instantly. This can "spook people and cause them to back off a little bit," Rogers explains. Instead, retain the information and make note of it a few minutes later when they won’t make the connection to what you are writing and what they had said earlier.

9. End the meeting by telling them what the next meeting will be about. Finish the meeting by talking about when you should meet again and why. Whether it’s to follow up on items that were discussed during this meeting or simply to conduct a review—Rogers calls this a "fiscal checkup"—it’s important to manage client expectations around when and why they will be seeing you again.

10. Update your client files and database. Once the meeting is complete, add any new information to the client profile and update any databases to ensure that you’re working with the most recent and accurate information the next time you deal with this client. "The most important thing you can do for every client," Rogers says, "is to remember, and put in a database for future reference, what is important to them."

To read Jim Rogers’ first five tips including how to prepare a meeting agenda, client reminders and more, please click here.

(05/11/05)