Whether performed quarterly, semi-annually or annually, one of the most important meetings you will have with your client, next to onboarding, is their review.
Ideally, you would be communicating with your clients in multiple face-to-face meetings throughout the year, providing them with the foundation needed to establish a deeper relationship.
Client’s lives are rarely static, so we need the opportunity to evaluate any changes in their lives that were not in their original financial plan.
But these meetings need to be managed properly.
What do you need to do to be prepared for the client review meeting?
When preparing for the review, assemble important pieces of information.
Here’s a short checklist of items to get you started:
- Review any notes since your last meeting to check that all action items have been completed (for us and the client).
- Check for any additional conversations or concerns your client has recently mentioned
- Print the client profile information from your CRM (for the client to review for accuracy).
- Do you have their beneficiary information, accountants’ information, and attorneys’ information?
- Have you set proper expectations for the time and topics to be covered on the agenda?
- Send meeting reminders as well as a list of any documents needed from your client.
Want additional meeting tips? Watch our pros share their best practices and tips on preparing for your client’s review. Here
Once you have properly prepared for the client review, you are now ready to have the meeting.
How do you prefer to meet?
In-person or video?
The debate has begun since Covid changed the financial industry and put a halt to in-person meetings.
We were forced into learning how to use video conferencing tools as were our clients.
So since the dust has started to settle and this new normal has begun, we are left to contemplate…
Do we really want to return to in-person meetings?
Most advisors’ preferred method of communication prior to COVID-19 was in-person meetings.
As the pandemic progressed advisors began the switch to video calling tools like ZOOM, Skype & Google Duo.
SmartAsset recently surveyed almost 250 financial advisors and found that 48% of advisors list video calls as their preferred communication method during the COVID-19 pandemic.1.
A lot of advisors have talked about giving virtual a go. Now that everyone has become used to virtual meetings this seems like a more viable option.
Will this be the opportunity that is needed to change the service model going forward?
InvestmentNews/Cambridge adviser technology study says that 32% of advisers expect to be relying on video conferencing to communicate regularly with clients in the next five years.2.
Not all advisors agree!
Others believe that some aspects of client relations are better handled in person.
For example, estate planning can be an emotional experience for clients and their families. “If a client passes away, I’m not going to have a Zoom call with the family,” Johnson said. “I’m going to go to them.”3.
So what do you think? Ready to return to in-person meetings? Is there something on your meeting prep list that we missed?
1.https://smartasset.com/financial-advisor/financial-advisor-and-client-communications-covid19-2021
2.https://www.investmentnews.com/more-advisers-are-embracing-the-virtual-world-62738