How effective are you when it comes to establishing an appropriate agenda for a client meeting?

The challenge with the traditional approach of pre-determining an agenda can be that some agents make the conversation more about what they want to say and tell, rather than what the client might actually need in the moment.

With artificial intelligence growing exponentially, how agents perform in client conversations is vital and can be a massive part of their value proposition. Handled well, these conversations empower them to engage and connect with their clients and earn both their trust and their business.

Get better results with these four questions

So, here are four simple, easy-to-remember questions that can power up your meetings and help you and your client both get what you need from a conversation. These questions apply just the same whether you’re meeting with a buyer or a seller.

#1. What would you like to get out of our conversation today?

The first question turns the conversation around, takes the pressure off you and engages the client right from the beginning.

The client might offer up one or two things, such as, “I’d like to know what my home’s value is” or “Is this the best market to be selling in?”

#2. What else is there?

The second question serves to gently dig a little deeper. The answer might be anything from “Oh, that’s about it” through to “Well, I wasn’t going to tell you but I might as well. We’re…” (which could be anything from getting divorced, losing a job, earning a promotion or having a baby).

How valuable would it be to have that kind of trusting connection with a client and be able to find their real motivations and any potential hurdles standing in the way?

#3. Can I share with you what I’d like to get out of our conversation?

The third question is your opportunity to put onto the agenda what you would like to know. Examples might be:

“I’d love to hear what features attracted you to buy this house five years ago”

“What makes now the right time for you to buy?” 

“I’d love for us to determine if we feel we’d be a great fit to work together by the end of this conversation”

#4. Where would you like to start?

The fourth question then invites the client to choose what’s most important for them to talk about first. Wait until you have asked the four questions before you start to handle what has come up.

Do this at the end

At the end of the meeting, you can then look back at the co-created agenda items with the client and make sure everything has been covered. “How are you feeling about us working together?” then becomes a very relevant way to move things forward or to identify any hurdles in the way.

We want to be remembered by the quality of our listening and by the questions we ask, rather than by the amount we talk and tell, don’t we? After all, is the conversation really about us, or is it more about our clients and helping them discover their objectives and any challenges to overcome?

Best of all, this simple process can set the stage effectively and position the relationship as working partners. Of course, the four questions offered here can be customized to suit your own way of speaking, so feel free to adjust and see how they work for you.

Also, if you were the one who set up the meeting, for example, to discuss possibly reducing a listing price, then think about changing the question order. In that case, start with question #3: “Thanks for meeting with me. Can I share with you what I’d like to get out of our conversation?” and then go to #1, #2 and #4. 

Hope this helps add value to your toolkit!