Written by Em Roberts

The art of the meeting opener: Building relationships and setting the stage for success

17th July, 2024 • 4 minutes

Have you ever taken a step back and thought about how you open your meetings? Perhaps it goes something like this:

Hello

How are you?

This weather has been just awful hasn’t it?

On the agenda for the call today…

I was thinking about…

This may sound familiar to you. The thing is, we want to get the client feeling comfortable and talking as early as possible, and not just about the weather. This is because clients who feel heard and understood are more likely to be satisfied with the service provided. According to a study by McKinsey, businesses that excel in customer service see a 10 – 15% increase in revenue and a 20% increase in customer satisfaction scores.

Providing a structure to how we open our meetings can allow us to have more effective and engaging conversations.

Wondering what this structure could look like? Read on for five super easy steps to take away and use at your next meeting.

1. Build the relationship

At the start of the meeting we want to focus on building the relationship. A few ideas of how to do this are,

In your call notes write down relevant bits of information that they give you which you can circle back to at the start of later meetings, for example a holiday they’ve been on recently.
Introduce them to different members of the team so that they have a relationship with the company, not just you.
Sign up to their newsletter so that you can talk about relevant insight from their company.

A question we often get asked is how do you build rapport in a virtual meeting? You have to address everyone, rather than having a chat with individuals, which makes this element more difficult. If meeting virtually, why not comment on a picture or something of interest in their background? Small gestures show genuine interest and can help break the ice.

We should also be aware of how much time they want to spend on this part in the meeting. Some people might not want to spend as long in this setting as others. Taking the time to establish a connection can make a significant difference.

2. Thank them

It is important to be able to smoothly transition from a casual conversation into a business meeting, and a great way to do this is to thank them for their time, setting a positive tone for the rest of the discussion.

If you don’t steer towards the meeting agenda they might ask you a question first, which means that the focus will be on you, when we want the focus to be on them.

3. Share the purpose

This should be angled towards what the client wants, focusing on the value to them. When you go to the doctor, you are not interested in the facilities in the hospital, or the infrastructure of the building – you are interested in what they are going to do to help you, and that is what a doctor does. It is the same in business; when sharing the purpose with the client, consider how you are going to help them. The purpose should be short and sharp, focusing on their needs. This will ensure the client feels valued and understood from the outset. Avoid the common mistake of going on and on about your product or business because this is usually not tailored to the customer and their needs. Even if some of the information is relevant, this will have been discounted by the irrelevant information you have shared.

4. Signal that you have prepared

This enhances your credibility as it demonstrates that you have put thought into the meeting and respect their time. This could involve;

Reading any resources they have shared with you and referencing them or asking questions about it.
Use the words and language that they use. This demonstrates that you understand them; a study from Sales Force showed that 63% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations.
If the meeting is with a new client, read their LinkedIn for any common interests or impactful posts that they have made that you can bring up.

This speaks to the subconscious of our client. They are more likely to trust you if you have signalled that you have already invested in them and taken the time to understand them. They will then be more likely to open up and trust you.

5. Cluster question

The most important part of the opener is the cluster question, which is when we ask three or four broad questions and finish with ‘anything else?’.

This question invites the client to share what is on their mind, giving you insight into areas you might not have considered. Most importantly, it gets them talking from the outset, so that you can tailor your conversation to them. You want to be actively listening to their responses to show that you are genuinely interested and making note of anything that may change your solution or that you will want to circle back around to in the future.

To conclude, having an effective meeting opener helps to build client relationships, demonstrates your respect for them and their time, and shows how you have prepared and understand what they need out of the conversation. Taking 30 seconds to run through this process will transform the efficiency and effectiveness of your meetings.

So here it is, here is your meeting opener framework,