Effective virtual appointments 

By Linda Leitz

Two years into the pandemic, many planners may feel we’re either experts at virtual meetings or that our difficulties are crippling our ability to foster and maintain relationships with our clients. An academic team’s research has confirmed how important effective virtual appointments are, and it provides direction on how to have virtual meetings that develop and cement our client relationships.

Virtual appointments aren’t a phase

In early 2020, we all scrambled to reassure our clients during the early stages of the pandemic about their finances and our ability to continue to meet their needs. We did this using video meetings in which we reinforced how the financial planning we do with them helps them weather the storm in world crises like the pandemic.

Some planners were able to have virtual meetings from their offices. Others worked from home. Clients and colleagues have been understanding about having your bedspread or an open closet as a background, bad lighting, lack of eye contact, and the occasional household interloper entering the meeting.

But virtual meetings are here to stay. Many clients prefer the convenience of avoiding the trip to your office. They don’t have to dress up—they might be wearing pajama pants (or no pants—don’t ask). But no matter how casual things are on the client side of a virtual meeting, planners need to maintain their professionalism and have meetings that are conducive to building trust and confidence.

Awareness and a new way of operating

Now that virtual client interactions have become more common, planners will benefit from being aware of how the virtual setting is structured and how to best promote the confidence of clients. Archuleta, Asebedo, Durband, Fife, Ford, Gray, Lurtz, McCoy, Pickens, and Sheridan explored these issues and consolidated their findings into an article, “Facilitating Virtual Client Meetings for Money Conversations: A Multidisciplinary Perspective on Skills and Strategies for Financial Planners” in the April 2021 Journal of Financial Planning. They noted that mental health professionals have already found that a virtual setting can be as effective as in-person settings. Plus, we know virtual settings can be more cost-effective and convenient than in-person meetings, potentially allowing the professional to open their services to more individuals. I share more of their findings below.

A pet or young child unexpectedly entering a meeting became comedic relief during the pandemic’s initial months. But it’s time for planners to have a virtual setting that is professional and demonstrates that financial discussions and information are in a confidential environment. A home office can have a comfortable feel in the client’s view, but there should not be a sense the other members of your household can hear the meeting or see the client’s financial information or that someone can look through a window and observe the meeting. And be prepared to give specifics about the privacy protection of the software used, or even take a few minutes to explain your security practices.

Socioemotional aspects

As financial advisors, we know that the emotional side of a financial planning relationship is key. These aspects include the trust our clients feel toward us and the empathy they feel from us. When interaction has been primarily in person, that often develops and is maintained naturally with everyone in the same room.

Researchers look at these aspects of relationships through the lens of a therapeutic pyramid, which has been used in understanding the relationships in mental health practices. This concept also applies to financial planning relationships and incorporates the planner’s “way of being,” the relationship alliance, and the skills and techniques of the professionals.

The “way of being” is the financial planner’s “in-the-moment stance or attitude toward clients.” How we, as planners, view our clients affects how they feel about us and about the relationship. If we view the clients as problems to be solved, rather than as people we care about and want to help, clients generally sense this conflict. In-person meetings often facilitate gauging clients’ feelings and recognizing the client’s individuality, and they convey the planner’s way of being to that specific client in the moment. This can help the alliance, or bonding, in the relationship. Technical skills, while important, are generally not as much of a concern to the client once the other aspects of a relationship are established.

Polymedia

Social scientists have identified our current way of life as working through “polymedia,” that is finding and using the most appropriate media for a particular situation. Sometimes, an email is better than a meeting, but other times a phone call is better than an email. Derek Tharp (see “Sources” box below) points out that in the current age of polymedia, compliance and communication don’t always mesh well for the client. For instance, a text might be the best way to answer a quick question from a client, but it is probably not going to make your compliance officer happy. To satisfy compliance and reassure your clients, a written disclosure to your clients of the privacy protection capabilities of your technology is optimal.

One solution is to give clients advance notice of what type of media you will use and manage their expectations of how and when the technology will be used. This starts with you having a good level of competence with your technology. While an advisor’s inability to start a virtual meeting or stay on the camera isn’t an indication of either financial planning capabilities or whether they care about the client, it can make the client uneasy. This would be no different than your office having shabby furniture or a suspicious odor. 

Virtual meetings are different, and you need both the best media and to make the best use of the media. Here are some tips from the experts on creating a good impression on video:

• As you would in an in-person meeting, be aware of physical cues and angle your camera so you can make virtual eye contact. Having the camera in the top center of the primary screen is usually the best way to maintain natural facial interaction.
• Set up good lighting and a background that’s attractive without being distracting.
• If you have multiple members of your firm in a meeting, the camera needs to show all of them, or each team member needs to be on their own computer.
• Any materials you screen-share should be legible, and be careful not to have a meeting that is all spreadsheets and verbiage on the screen.
• Consider sending clients in advance any complex documents that you’ll review in detail so they have a copy with them while you discuss it.
• Visual exhibits can help a meeting, but the appointment should be balanced with interaction when you and the client can converse without visual aids.

Practice setting up your meetings with friends or co-workers who will give you feedback about the technology and your setting. Try each aspect of an appointment—logging in, screen sharing, and discussion with and without visual aids.

But while things are different in a virtual world, human nature has remained the same. So when you’re conducting video meetings, remember the skills that you use in person to connect with your clients.

Allow meetings to have some of the same characteristics as in-person appointments. Don’t be concerned by silences. Clients often need to process what is being discussed. Reflect to them what they’ve said by paraphrasing and repeating to them their questions and concerns. If you’re going to take notes during the meeting, let the client know that at the beginning of the meeting. As with other meetings, be aware of power dynamics between individual clients. This happens during in-person appointments. It can also happen if one client is more comfortable than the other with the technology of meetings.

The new normal

Just as the pandemic has had long-term impacts on health protections in our day-to-day lives, you can expect virtual meetings to have a bigger role going forward. Establish processes and technology to meet the needs of your clients.

Sources Archuleta, K.; Asebedo, S.; Durband, D.; Fife, S.; Ford, M.; Gray, B.; Lurtz, M.; McCoy, M.; Pickens, J.; and Sheridan, G. (2020). “Facilitating Virtual Client Meetings for Money Conversations: A Multidisciplinary Perspective on Skills and Strategies for Financial Planners,” Journal of Financial Planning 34 (4), 82-101. Tharp, D. (2020). “Potential Consumer Harm Due to Regulation on Financial Advisory Communication in the FinTech Age,” Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning (31), 146-161.

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Linda Leitz, Ph.D., CFP^®, EA is a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor in Colorado Springs and can be reached at linda@peaceofmindfin.com.

image credit: istock.com/fizkes