One of the things we do quite often in our quest to help our industry raise the bar on the value provided to its clients is participate in pre-call planning sessions. A majority of these sessions are focused on planning for an upcoming Relationship Review Meeting with a high-value client. All too often, we hear the advisor team coalescing around something similar to the following agenda:

1. Provide an economic and investment update (accompanied by an impressive deck of detailed information)
2. Address specific tactical issues the team wants to discuss with the client (usually focused on a service they provide, changes being made in how they deliver their service, etc.)
3. Ask if anything has changed since they last met
4. Ask if there is anything else we can be doing for them
5. Schedule the next meeting

For the most part, this is a tired and overused agenda that clients have become conditioned to expect… and often walk away underwhelmed with the value of the meeting.

So What’s Missing?

While none of the items on the above agenda are necessarily wrong, and in many cases should be included in the agenda, there is absolutely nothing here that delivers the deeper, more meaningful value you can provide, nor leaves the client compelled as to that value.

Traditional Agenda

• Economic and investment update
• Specific tactical issues the team wants to discuss with the client
• Ask:
  • Has anything changed since we last met?
  • Is there is anything else we can be doing for you?
• Schedule the next meeting

What Clients Want

• Clear evidence that you put their interests ahead of your own
• To be listened to and understood regarding their priorities, goals, needs and values
• An emotional connection¹
• You to anticipate opportunities and risks²
• You to proactively offer insights and solutions³
• To talk about:⁴
  • Their lives and not just talk about money
  • Working and spending versus saving and investing
  • How their financial decisions are aligned with their personal values

1. CEG 2017 – 84% of affluent investors say they want to connect emotionally with their advisors
2. Greenwich
3. Greenwich
4. Joe Duran/United Capital

Comparing what clients say they want based on volumes of industry research to the above traditional Relationship Review Agenda, there is much that is missing and an obvious neglect of what clients are looking for and want to talk about. While in reality there could be clients that highly value the topics in the traditional agenda, as we have recognized in these pre-call planning sessions, the key is to be sure that IS exactly what the client wants to talk about. You can also conclude from the traditional agenda that most of it is focused on what WE (the advisors) are doing and want to talk about (our knowledge, expertise, services, etc.) versus making the conversation all about the client and what THEY want to talk about.

Low Calorie/High Impact Tactics to Change the Conversation

We have found and shared with the advisors we work with a few simple but impactful tactics that change the conversation so as to better engage clients and leave them feeling more confident and appreciative of the value offered. The key, obviously, is to align what clients value most to your agenda! Here are a few simple tactics with brief explanations behind them:

Aligning your Relationship Review Agenda to what clients want