As meetings continue to be held primarily online, it’s important to ensure that these meetings are both engaging and productive. If you use meeting time to educate your clients on key wealth planning issues you will end up being the only one talking, leaving no room for the client to engage in the conversation. Wouldn’t it be ideal if your clients showed up to the meeting ready to ask questions and for you to assist them in making a decision? This can only happen if they are educated prior to the meeting.
Don’t assume that your clients already understand the key issues and opportunities you are going to discuss. Even if they do, a refresher is always beneficial.
You want to ensure the information they are receiving is relevant and factual. Often, clients will source incorrect and out-of-date information on their own. To avoid this, you need to curate and provide them with content.
Using educational content to prep your clients for meetings can be extremely effective when done correctly. I’ve outlined some of the most important aspects to consider in this process.
The content you send before the meeting needs to be engaging and visual. Videos are a great way to provide education in visual forms. They should be short and specific to the wealth planning opportunity you plan on discussing.
Infographics are also a great way to also achieve this. Although there are many helpful articles on financial topics online, they are often too long to keep the reader's attention. You want your client to feel you are preparing them for the meeting - not asking them to do their own research.
Remember to give your client a good reason why they should review your content before the meeting. What’s in it for them? Will it make meetings more efficient for them? Will it allow time for the client to ask questions and for the advisor to provide more personalized advice? When you provide your clients with a big enough ‘why’ it will empower them to take action.
Provide your clients with enough time to think about the issue and opportunities so that they are able to come up with questions. Don’t give them too much time though as you want it to be fresh in their minds. Sending the video a week prior is enough in advance.
Don’t overload your client with advice before the meeting. It’s best to introduce them to the topic beforehand and then give advice during the meeting. Once the client has some basic understanding, you can give them advice on their specific situation and answer questions about their unique situation. This is where you add the most value and should be spending your client-facing time.
Taking these steps can help make your client meetings more effective and more engaging which is a win-win for both you and your clients. With this approach, you leverage technology and save time. Make sure to use content sources you trust and spend your time doing what you do best, using your expertise to advise your clients.
HeyAdvisor is a digital content library that financial advisors leverage to connect with their clients. The highly engaging educational library of videos and infographics is white-labelled with advisor branding and can be integrated into email marketing campaigns, websites, client portals and social media. The intuitive library is grouped by life events making it easy to add value to the client relationship at times in their lives that matter most. Review our plans here.
