Five Mistakes That Undermine Client Meetings
Membership required
Membership is now required to use this feature. To learn more:
View Membership BenefitsAdvisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
Here are the top five mistakes advisors make in client meetings.
While it's rare to see egregious mistakes when I sit in on client meetings with up-and-coming advisors, I often see small things that seem insignificant but can completely shift the dynamic of the interaction.
To improve your game, recognize that everything helps or hurts – nothing is neutral.
If everything counts, you want to add as many positive things in the plus column as you can and have as few minuses as possible.
One negative thing takes away 10 positives, so you want to avoid mistakes scrupulously.
I aim to be fully present with every client who walks through my door. I want to hear what my clients have to say. I want to understand their concerns and help guide them toward financial independence.
I can’t help my clients if I cannot elucidate their questions and concerns and build trust. Here are five of the little mistakes I often see during client meetings when coaching advisors.
1. Comedy can be too much of a good thing
Talking about financials is a personal and often emotional discussion – you’re handling your clients’ entire life savings, after all. But you can put some levity into your interactions to lighten the mood.
I often tell a few little jokes, such as, “This meeting isn’t like going to the dentist; it won’t end with you in pain.” But adding some comic relief to a meeting can be too much of a good thing.
Too many advisors go into meetings misbelieving that you have to have a joke for every item on the agenda or that the client wants to hear a minute-by-minute retelling of your last fishing trip.
That’s going too far.
Everything exists on a spectrum, and knowing where on the spectrum comedy or your personal stories fall is essential to maintaining the atmosphere of your meetings.
2. Steer clear of politics
Discussing politics during client meetings produces negative emotions and isn’t helpful for relationship building. Whether you agree or disagree with your clients politically, it'll never be a positive discussion.
Clients will try to rabbit-hole into political discussions, and I will always redirect the conversation back to our agenda. But if a client is persistent about plunging down that path, I’ll say something like this:
You know what? This is a great beer or wine conversation. So I’d love to grab a drink and discuss this with you. But right now, let’s focus on you and what we can control, which is your financial independence. Would that be okay with you?
3. Avoid closed-ended questions
Asking a client, “Do you have any questions?” is just amateur-hour client communication. Avoid asking your clients closed-ended questions. It’s a surefire way to get a “no” response.
Instead, ask your clients, “What questions or concerns do you have?”
Then, sit back with your pen ready and wait for their response.
Open-ended questions like this will elicit financial concerns that trouble your client but that they may be too embarrassed to express.
Here’s another way I use open-ended questions: There are times during client communication when I need mini-agreements along the way to ensure the client understands what I’m presenting.
Whether it’s a client’s first exposure to the retirement-income timeline or we’re going through buckets for the tenth time, I need check-in responses.
How do I check in? By asking questions such as:
- Have I lost you?
- Did I miss anything here?
- Are we still on the same page?
Or my personal favorite, “Is this okay with you?”
No matter which script you choose, give your clients plenty of opportunities to express their concerns and ask questions throughout your meeting. You’ll be able to gather information vital to understanding their financial situation and build your relationship along the way.
4. “To be honest…”
If you don’t say “to be honest,” are you not being honest?
Hearing someone say “to be honest” gives me pause. I always think, “Wait, were you not being honest before? Are you being honest now? Do you even have integrity?”
Using this phrase with clients plants a tiny seed of doubt in their minds. They will begin to wonder when, or if ever, you’re advising them with integrity.
Instead of using this phrase, use simple truths to communicate with your clients:
- These are some things I’ve seen in the past, and this is what has worked with my clients in a similar situation as you.
- How this works with my clients is a, b, and c. Now, you could be the one client where this doesn’t work, and that’s okay; we’ll find a better solution.
- Most of my clients are just like you; they’re also trying to decide the best time to hit social security and pull from their nest egg. Great news, we successfully help people like you retire every day!
By using phrases such as those above, you’re drawing your clients’ attention to things that exist:
- You have multiple clients and plenty of experience helping them. Mentioning these facts establishes your credibility.
- Your process indeed works; pointing to this fact allows you to maintain your integrity without drawing questions to it.
5. The right way to greet clients
When starting my career, my dad always greeted our clients in the lobby and invited them into the conference room to “chat.”
Younger, less-experienced me thought he was crazy. Client meetings weren’t a “chat.” They were serious business meetings about serious finances. We have an agenda and everything!
Little did I know then, but my dad was on to something.
Unfortunately, it took me several years to learn that we were indeed having a “chat” or a “visit” with clients. You want them to feel comfortable so that they’ll ask important questions and share their concerns with you.
We have cookies, couches, and coffee or tea to help put our clients at ease while waiting for their appointment. Just because we’re talking about serious business doesn’t mean we can’t have a friendly conversation about it.
Don’t forget to greet your clients with genuine enthusiasm – these folks are the most important people in your life for the next hour, and you want them to feel it.
Action items
Pick something from this list to improve on this week. You’ll need to break some old habits – and you may even have to rework entire processes – to make these changes.
Put whatever item you picked on Post-it notes at home and on your monitor at work. Add a little cue on your agenda or client notes to remind you to follow through with your goal for improvement.
Micah Shilanski, CFP®, is a financial planner who achieves the impossible. Micah is recognized as a leader in the concept of lifestyle design for financial planners and has spoken at conferences across the country. Micah is an advisor with Shilanski and Associates, a founder of Plan Your Federal Retirement, and a co-founder of The Perfect RIA.
A message from Advisor Perspectives and VettaFi: Just as artificial intelligence (AI) is helping advisors create videos, write blogs, construct portfolios and coach clients, companies throughout the world are using it to deliver more value to their clients. Learn about the future of AI and the investment opportunities it is creating at our next symposium, on August 30 at 11 am ET. Click here to register.
Membership required
Membership is now required to use this feature. To learn more:
View Membership BenefitsSponsored Content
Upcoming Webinars View All









