Client review meetings: obligation or opportunity?

Key takeaways

• If you think of your client review meetings simply as a requirement, you are not appreciating how valuable your time with clients is for your business.

• Top advisors capitalize on client reviews to grow their business, deepen client trust and drive value through a personalized client experience.

• As you prepare for your next client review meeting, be intentional about approaching the conversation from the client’s point of view as this helps to develop enduring relationships and ultimately leads to opportunities for business growth.

Make the most of your time with clients

Advisors spend more than half of their time (58%) working with clients. That’s good news because client-facing activities provide the most opportunity for business growth. For the majority of advisors, conducting and preparing for client meetings consumes more time (32%) than any other business activity, so it’s important to make the most of that time. If you’ve been thinking of client reviews as an obligation, a change in your approach would likely benefit your clients and your business.

A well-orchestrated client review meeting allows you to deepen client trust, drive value with a personalized client experience and identify opportunities for business growth. The top advisors we work with are highly intentional about approaching client review meetings from the client’s point of view as this helps them build enduring relationships and often produces referrals. Now that’s time well spent!

Client meetings consume more time than any other business activity

Provide an experience your clients value: make it personal

Clients have access to more financial information and resources than ever, but their conversations with you give them something they can’t get anywhere else – clarity around their goals and confidence in their financial future. You listen to their worries and provide personalized advice that lifts the weight from their shoulders. Google and bots can’t compete with that.

Top advisors capitalize on the opportunity provided by client reviews to deliver a level of personalization that exceeds their clients’ expectations, which drives higher retention and referral rates for their business.

Build the meeting agenda together

You likely go into each client review with your own client meeting agenda, but your ‘to-do’ list isn’t the reason they come to see you. If you let the client take part in setting the agenda, they will likely be more engaged and place a higher value on the time you spend together.

Several days before a meeting, send the client a draft agenda that includes a few blank lines at the top. Ask the client to fill in those spaces to indicate what has changed in their lives, what’s been on their mind and anything else they would like to discuss. Once they reply, share back the final agenda with their discussion items at the top. This shows your client that you put their interests and questions first. Moreover, addressing what is on the client’s mind at the beginning of your meeting allows them to be more focused as you move on to other topics. It’s OK if you spend the entire meeting on the client’s agenda topics as that is what’s most important to them.

Focus on what clients care about

You always need to be prepared to discuss a client’s portfolio to the extent they are interested, but most clients do not want to go deep into the details. Outperforming the market may feel like success to you, but comparing investment returns against a benchmark index doesn’t tell a client that their goals are on track. Additionally, focusing on performance may lead to ‘S&P envy’ – when a client feels disappointed about their portfolio lagging the S&P 500 or losing money when in reality, it is performing as their diversified portfolio should. Instead, frame your conversations around the client’s definition of success. Clients want to know that their financial plan is doing what it’s supposed to do and that you are doing all you can to secure their future.

Take some time to confirm your understanding of the client’s vision, values and goals and ask if anything has changed. Take the conversation a layer deeper by asking the client to tell you more about what they’ve shared. Go ahead and peel the onion. It shows that you are genuinely curious and you care about them. It’s OK if this discussion consumes the majority of your time together because it is the most important topic to your client.

Customize your client communications

Contact clients on their terms where possible. Start with your client reviews. While you likely meet with clients at least annually, some may want to see you more often. Conversely, you may be meeting with some clients more often than they desire. Ask clients what they prefer in terms of frequency and logistics (in person or virtual) and balance their preferences with your bandwidth and your meeting requirements based on the services you provide to them.

Between meetings, your phone calls, emails and other touchpoints help maintain client engagement, but how much is enough, and how much is too much? Advisors aren’t always hitting the mark. For example, 19% of clients would prefer fewer or no phone calls from their advisor while 15% would like more. Why spend time calling clients who don’t want to be contacted via phone when you could instead call the clients who want to hear from you more often? The use of client relationship management (CRM) technology can help you efficiently customize your communication strategy for each client. Additionally, digital marketing strategies allow you to communicate with clients at scale without losing your personal touch, which is particularly important when volatility rises.

Your clients may want more or less contact
Client satisfaction with the amount of contact from their advisor

Invest in your most critical asset: client trust

Client review meetings are the opportune time to develop your relationships. This time together can be very powerful in deepening a client’s trust in you.

Listen more, talk less. Clients are more empowered than in the past and, as a result, they most want to feel heard. Let your clients do most of the talking and show that you are attentively listening. Bring in a team member to take notes and tend to operational tasks so that you can be fully present for the client. (Exposure to your clients can be a team development opportunity, too.) Ask the client thoughtful questions and respond with empathy or enthusiasm, as appropriate. Encourage them to elaborate if you think they have more to say.

Speak their language. The words you use in day-to-day conversations with your team may sound like a foreign language to your clients. Financial jargon can be intimidating and build a wall between you and a client. Speak to clients in simple terms. They need to understand you in order to trust you. Pause periodically to give clients a chance to process what they’ve heard and formulate questions. A few extra minutes now can save time later by negating the need for a follow up phone call.

Share who you are. Clients know you as an expert in financial matters, but what do they know about you personally? Tell them about your life outside the office. Share weekend stories. When clients get to know you beyond your role as their advisor, they are more likely to open up to you. A client’s candor could result in uncovering information that allows you to proactively address their needs.

Hold them accountable. You’ve helped clients create a financial plan, now help them stay the course. Storytelling can be highly effective here. You likely know of investors who made emotional decisions and paid the price for it. Let your clients know that holding them accountable to their plan is one of the many ways you serve them as their advisor. Discuss a plan for what you will do if market volatility spikes and ask for their commitment.

Involve your team. Bring one or two team members into each client review meeting so you can make introductions and broaden the client’s familiarity with your practice. Look for additional opportunities for your team to periodically interact with your clients and earn their trust. The goal is for your clients to become comfortable working with anyone on your team in the event that you were unavailable.

While these behaviors signal your trustworthiness to clients broadly, your attentiveness to a client’s individual needs is a more evident expression of your intentions. For clients who are nearing retirement, discuss their non-financial needs and overall well-being. Help them reframe retirement to create the life they really want. For clients who are new to investing, educate them on investing basics. This makes conversations about their portfolio more approachable for them. Empowering clients goes a long way in building trust.

Proactively drive business growth

As you conduct client reviews, take the opportunity to extract insights from your interactions with clients and plant seeds for business growth.

Engage the family. Encourage clients to bring their spouse, adult children and any other heirs to your meetings. Having relationships with a client’s family and heirs can be pivotal in retaining assets should your client divorce, pass away or become unable to make financial decisions.

Reinforce your value proposition. Don’t assume your client remembers why they chose to work with you. Remind them of your value proposition by sharing stories that highlight what makes your practice unique and how your team has helped clients solve problems or achieve goals.

Share your service model. Most clients are not aware of the services they aren’t using but could become critical as their life evolves. Make it part of your client review process to share the breadth of your service offering with the client. Present them with your itemized menu of services, similar to our client experience checklist, and then excuse yourself from the room to give the client a few minutes to review your services and reflect upon their needs. When you return, ask if they have questions about any of your services. Giving clients the space to consider adding services before they leave your office is usually more efficient than waiting for them to call on a later date to discuss it further.

Ask for referrals. The quality of your services and client experience may speak for itself but clients don’t always think of making referrals on their own. Prompt your clients by simply asking: “Who do you know who could benefit from our services?”

Collect feedback. Ask questions like: What have we done well for you and your family? Is there anything we can do differently? Where have we delivered less than you’d hoped? On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is it that you would recommend us? Follow up for clarification; for example, if they give you a 9, ask why a 9 instead of an 8? Why a 9 instead of a 10? Let your client know that you value their feedback by taking notes and delving deeper into their responses.

Don’t spend your time. Invest it.

As you prepare for your next client review, be intentional about how you will use the time. Will you spend it on a routine task, or will you invest it in your business? Providing a personalized client experience and earning trust leads to more opportunities for business growth.

BlackRock can help you drive business growth before, during and after your client reviews. Learn more about the BlackRock Business Consulting team.

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