Do you struggle to hold productive client meetings? Today we’re going to discuss how you can improve your productivity in three areas: before your meeting, during your meeting, and after your meeting. Keep reading to learn more.

 

Tips for Holding Productive Client Meetings

1. Before Your Meeting

Prior to sitting down with your client, there are some important items that you should prepare:

• Organize all your information – Know what you’re going to talk about and have all of the resources you need in order to cover each item thoroughly. You don’t want to waste time mid-meeting searching for data or information that you could have prepared in advance.
• Encourage your client to bring a list of questions – Asking your client to prepare questions in advance will also encourage them to be all set for the meeting.
• Check your notes from previous meetings – Review your notes from previous meetings with the client. Check in about issues that they brought up, see how solutions you discussed are progressing, and inquire about things happening in their personal life that came up in conversation.

 

2. During Your Meeting

Keep these items in mind throughout the course of your client meeting:

• Take good notes – Accurate and detailed notes are helpful both for the short-term and the long-run. They help you know what you need to do immediately in the wake of the meeting. Additionally, they are your resource to review prior to subsequent client meetings.
• Encourage clients to ask questions – Whether or not your client prepared questions in advance, be sure to ask them what is on their mind. Give them ample opportunity to share with you, be it their goals, their worries, and or simply something they’ve been wondering about.
• Don’t rush – While sticking within the timeframe of your meeting is important, try not to let your client feel as though you are rushing them. Schedule sufficient time for each meeting so that you can cover everything you need to without running over.

 

3. After Your Meeting

Just  because your client is gone doesn’t mean that your meeting responsibilities are over. Be sure to do the following before wrapping up for the day:

• Record what you talked about – It is best to do this as soon as the meeting concludes, if possible. If you took good notes throughout the meeting, time is less important. That said, the sooner you record what was discussed, the more likely you are to remember details accurately.
• Send a follow-up email with summary & action items – This goes hand-in-hand with recording what you talked about. Sending your client a follow-up email that summarizes what was discussed at the meeting ensure that you are on the same page.

 

ABLE Supports Productive Client Meetings

ABLE is an easy-to-use technology solution designed to streamline your relationship management. It offers a simple and intuitive way to manage your client contact. The contact record for each of your clients stores all of your notes and interactions with them. It makes preparing for meetings—and recording details after the fact—a breeze.

Schedule an ABLE demo to see the client relationships management system in action. Learn how the philosophy behind the program supports your firm’s business development.