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Practice Management > Marketing and Communications > Client Retention

7 Topics to Cover in Your First Meeting With a New Client

By Roger Wohlner

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What You Need to Know

  • When meeting with a new client, be sure to ask questions in a way that encourages them to open up about what is important to them.
  • Use the initial new client meeting to delve into their assets and liabilities to ensure you have a thorough understanding.
  • Let the client know that their success is how you measure your own success.

It’s the start of a new year, and a number of people will be acting upon their new year’s resolution to take charge of their financial situation. One aspect of this might involve finding a new financial advisor.

If you find yourself to be the beneficiary of some of this activity, here are seven things you will want to discuss when meeting with new clients.

1. Ask the client to tell you about themself.

While the advisor-client relationship is a business relationship, understanding who your client is as a person and what’s important to them can help you understand how to best help them with their financial planning and advice needs.

Make your questions open-ended in the hopes they will discuss their family, their hobbies and interests, their career and other aspects of their life. Maybe you even have some personal interests in common.

The discussion about family can be a good segue to a discussion about estate planning. Do they have an estate plan in place? Do they have a will or trust? If they are married, are assets and accounts properly titled? Are beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance policies up to date? The answers to these and other questions may lead you to make estate planning a top priority for your new client.

Being a financial advisor is rooted in providing services to your clients that are customized and personalized to their needs to the greatest extent possible. The more you know about what’s important to them, the easier this customization will become.

2. Determine their financial concerns and priorities.

While you likely have discussed the client’s basic financial concerns in a preliminary meeting with them, now that they are a client you want to dig into the details. What are their top financial concerns and priorities? What does their financial time horizon look like relative to their financial goals?

What you ultimately want to ascertain is what your client wants their money to do for them. Most clients don’t care about or even want to know about asset allocation or other details on that level. They know what they want their money to help them achieve in life. They are hiring you to worry about the details of managing their money to help them achieve their goals.

Your client’s financial priorities will, of course, vary based upon their circumstances. Retirement may be the main concern for clients in their fifties or older. Younger clients may be focused on building wealth in general and saving for goals like retirement and funding college for kids.

Beyond their own financial security, passing on their wealth to the next generation might be a key concern. Understanding their desires here can help you suggest estate planning options for them to consider.

3. Ask why they’re seeking a new financial advisor.

If your client left another financial advisor to work with your firm, be sure to understand why they chose to terminate the relationship.

One issue could be that they felt that they had outgrown their former advisor. Maybe the client is a successful executive or professional and they are looking for a more sophisticated level of service in areas such as investing, tax planning and estate planning.

Perhaps the reason they decided to change advisors was a communication issue. This situation occurs all too often with a newly single client deciding to change advisors after the death of their spouse or a divorce. In many cases, women in their 50s or 60s did not feel that the advisor they worked with while married listened to their needs and concerns. It may come out that they chose you because they wanted an advisor who would listen to them and put their financial concerns first.

There may be any number of reasons why your new client decided to move on from a relationship with a previous advisor. Understanding these reasons can be helpful in providing the best service to your new client, and in setting their expectations in working with you.

4. Discuss your passion for helping your clients.

Don’t be afraid to share with your new clients — and existing clients periodically — how passionate you are about helping them achieve their financial goals. Clients want to know that their financial advisor has a vested interest in their success and that this is why they are in the business.

Assuming this is truly how you feel about your clients and their families, this will likely pervade most of your conversations with them anyhow. But it doesn’t hurt, especially at the outset of a new client relationship, to let your new client know that their success is how you measure your own success as an advisor.

5. Get the details of all of their assets and liabilities.

You likely gathered information about your new client’s assets and liabilities as part of the onboarding process. It’s important to go beyond the numbers with them. Your initial meeting with them is a good time to go through their assets and liabilities to be sure you are both on the same page.

Accounts such as a 401(k), and IRA, taxable investments and others are fairly straightforward. Even so, there may be holdings that you have questions about. For example, if you see some stocks in an account that don’t seem to fit with the rest of the client’s portfolio you might ask the client about them.

Perhaps they just want to set aside part of their portfolio to “dabble” in stock picking. Or perhaps these shares were inherited from their parents or another family member and they have sentimental value to them.

Be sure to discuss non-investment assets and liabilities. Do they own their own home? What is their mortgage on the home? Do they own other property? How about assets like art or collectibles? Beyond a home mortgage, are they dealing with any significant debt issues?

If the client is a business owner, be sure to discuss the topic of succession planning with them. Have they done anything in this area? Additionally, do they have a retirement plan in place to help them accumulate assets for retirement in addition to the value they might realize from the business?

6. Ask about their sources of income and compensation.

You want to be sure that you know all sources of income and compensation available to your client. For those who are working, this likely includes a base salary, but could also include year-end bonuses or bonuses earned throughout the year.

Does your client have stock-based compensation from their employer like stock options or restricted stock units (RSUs)? If so, be sure to get all of the details, including any restrictions and what happens to these vehicles if your client leaves the company.

For new clients who are retired, what does their current retirement income stream look like? Do they need to revisit the spending and distribution strategy? Are they currently taking Social Security or is this an issue you need to address with them?

7. Set client expectations.

One of the most important aspects of your first meeting with a new client is to set expectations regarding how you will work with them. This includes things like communication as well as periodic meetings. Let them know what you will need from them in terms of information as well.

On the odd chance that you come away from this initial meeting with the feeling that you and the client are not a good fit, don’t be afraid to be upfront about this with the client. This happens. Be positive and offer to help them find an advisor who is a better fit for their needs.

A good first meeting with a new client can set the tone for a successful advisor/client relationship that lasts for years. Be sure to have a plan in terms of the questions you will be asking and describe how your relationship will work. Most of all, focus on being a good listener.

Roger Wohlner

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