1. I generally meet with a new client in my office, which is a true expression of my personality. Along the back wall, you’ll see a photo collage of meaningful milestones, events and symbols of my life. This also creates the perfect backdrop for virtual meetings if need be.
After an initial discovery meeting, I like to move to the building’s conference room. This is also the location for collaborating with centers of influence such as estate planning attorneys, tax advisors, insurance experts, etc. given the large conference table and technological integrations. In contrast to my office where I seek a more personal expression of myself, the conference room is simple and clean, allowing the conversation and content to be the primary focus.
— Nicole Gopoian Wirick, JD, CFP, president and financial planner, Prosperity Wealth Strategies, Birmingham, Michigan
2. We set up our client meeting room to replicate a living room, or therapist's office, because we want our clients to feel comfortable and at home when meeting with us. We have a small coffee table to avoid having any large objects between them and us to aid in building trust.
One of the most beneficial things that we have incorporated into our office is turning our large pane window into a makeshift whiteboard. This whiteboard allows us to draw out things that we're talking about with our clients and prospects to ensure that we communicate simply and visually to better explain our processes and advice.
— R. Deaton Smith, CFP, AIF, president and CCO, Thayer Financial, Hickory, North Carolina
3. We want people to feel comfortable when they come in. A long conference table surrounded by chairs gives the opposite effect. Our office is pretty much paper-free. All documents are sent/signed/returned via DocuSign, so there is almost no need for a table at all. However, a section of our coffee table does rise if we need to review paper documents or if a client brings in a laptop.
— Brad Wright, CFP, managing partner, chief investment officer and financial planner, Launch Financial Planning, Andover, Massachusetts
4. My wife is an elementary school counselor and she has been a big encourager of making my office welcoming.
Then I read [this Kitces.com] article and we’ve literally copied it.
There’s a rug, and 2 plants, nice artwork and a blue accent wall, which are all welcoming. We use a coffee table vs. a kitchen-height or desk-height table. Apparently if you can see each other’s knees that’s more comforting!
We use a white-noise machine, and also have added insulation so that we drive away outside-the-room noise.
The client chairs have armrests which is empowering for them, and our advisor chairs do not.
Most importantly is what we do inside the room: myself and my other advisor have taken several Motivational Interviewing courses to learn a method for guiding people through discussions around change.
— Jeremy Keil, CFP, CFA, founder and financial planner, Keil Financial Partners, New Berlin, Wisconsin
5. We chose it because it's simple and inviting. It has lots of windows and sunlight and is casual and comfortable — very "LA"!
— Noah Damsky, CFA, principal, Marina Wealth Advisors, Los Angeles
6. I meet with all of my clients virtually, so my client meeting room is my desk and a neat background for Zoom. I intentionally tried to keep the background simple and used some basic branding and focus items.
— Jay Zigmont, Ph.D., CFP, founder, Live, Learn, Plan, Water Valley, Mississippi
7. We went with this rather than the traditional stuffy décor because we wanted to have a relaxed and casual office vibe. Feedback from clients and prospects has been overwhelmingly supportive, although we also know that this won’t resonate with some. Our view is that’s ok. This type of meeting room is representative of our own personality so we think it is a good fit.
— Brandon Renfro, Ph.D., CFP, Belonging Wealth Management in Hallsville, Texas
8. We have a few different conference rooms available for client meetings. Most meeting rooms in the office have entire wall (floor to ceiling) whiteboard walls where advisors [can] both project on the wall while also [using] whiteboard markers to diagram key concepts. It provides a multidimensional presentation experience for the client.
— Rob Greenman, chief growth officer and lead advisor, Vista Capital Partners, Portland, Oregon
9. Research shows that people are nervous and apprehensive to meet with a financial advisor. There are several reasons for this, but primarily it’s the fear of the unknown. So to make people feel more at ease, I try and make the setting as relaxing and familiar as possible by setting up my meeting room to look like a normal living room that you might see in someone's home.
Instead of a conference table, there is a coffee table. Replacing the projector screen is a large flat screen TV. A sitting area with couch, chairs and end tables complete the picture. The colors are warm in tone and the lighting is 2700 kelvin temperature, like most people's homes. The idea is to make people feel non-threatened and as comfortable as possible.
— Wheeler Pulliam, PhD, CFP,MBA, MHR, founder, managing partner and financial consultant, Xponify Financial in Hickory Creek, Texas
For this installment of Advisors’ Advice, ThinkAdvisor asked advisors to tell us what their client meeting rooms look like, and why they set the rooms up the way they did.
Several of them said their main goals were to make sure their clients were calm and comfortable, especially the first time they are meeting in person.
Since the pandemic started, designing meeting rooms in a simple way that looked good on Zoom helped a lot also — especially for one advisor who told us he was continuing to only conduct meetings virtually.
Meanwhile, other advisors said they wanted their client meeting rooms to help highlight their own unique personalities. Blocking out unwanted outside noise can’t hurt, either.
Check out advisors’ responses, with photos, in the gallery above. And if you need more inspiration. check out this recent Twitter thread from advisor Camille Koppenberg.
