High-Value Meetings: Rebrand Your Meetings To Create More Value
Don't offer clients unlimited meetings. That doesn't help anyone. Instead rebrand your meeting to be high-value activities.
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Why More Client Meetings Don’t Lead To Better Outcomes
In theory, you want as much contact with the client as possible.
The more calls you have, the more information you exchange and the better you get to know each other. This should lead to better relationships and superior outcomes.
In practice, however, offering unlimited calls can lead to disorganisation, misuse of time, and projects taking longer than they otherwise would.
Ultimately, more meetings won’t lead to better outcomes. Better meetings lead to better outcomes.
Calls Cost Money - A Lot Of Money
Every call has a cost. That cost is time and money. The more time you spend on client calls the less you can spend doing the client work (or undertaking activities which will help you build and improve your business).
Worse yet, calls take place at a fixed time of the day. They’re an inflexible mass in your calendar. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the flow of a work project, you suddenly have to stop what you’re doing and jump on the call. The worst situation is when you have calls scheduled 30 minutes apart. It’s almost impossible to do productive work in that in-between time.
Projects which can seem profitable can easily become unprofitable if too much time is spent on calls. I remember a $20k client early in my career when, after accounting for all the internal calls, we determined we were working for less than minimum wage.
Imagine you charge, say, $200 per hour. A $30k project will thus have an allocation of 150 hours. If the project is supposed to last for 12 weeks and you have two to three calls per week, that’s 25% of the project on calls alone.
Now imagine the project is stalled because of delays on the client side - but you still have weekly calls. Soon calls can account for 30% or 40% of the project time.
This assumes that it’s just you on these calls. If it’s you and another team member, then we’re now up to 60% to 80% of the allocated project time spent on calls.
This is something of an extreme example, but you can see how it’s easy to begin losing a huge amount of money through unlimited calls.
The Diminishing Value Of Calls
Even if you do believe that the more time you spend with the client, the better. You have to acknowledge a law of diminishing returns at some point.
For example, not many consultants set up a daily check-in call with a client because we recognise that’s not going to add enough value to justify the cost.
The challenge then is to figure out how to maximise the value of calls for both you and the client.
And this means thinking differently about them.
Limit Meetings To Increase Their Perceived Value
‘Calls’ and ‘meetings’ have an association with a low-value activity.
Limited preparation goes into regularly scheduled calls and meetings. People generally show up and discuss whatever is on the agenda. This leads to both parties not making the best use of their time.
A better approach is to introduce some scarcity and increase the value perception of a meeting.
If you’re offering unlimited calls, the value of those calls feels low. But if you offer a fixed number of calls, suddenly people associate the scarcity with value and put in more work to ensure they get the results they need.
Restricting the number of calls is a kindness on both sides. You can both agree to be more flexible if you need to make the project work. But if you set a fixed number at the beginning of the project, everyone is likely to put more effort into making the call a success because they associate it with value.
I’d suggest adding a fixed number of calls to the terms of your contract.
The key is to find the balance between value and cost to both you and your client (believe me your client contact has other work they can be doing too).
Rebranding Your Meetings
I’d suggest banning the use of the word ‘meeting’ or ‘calls’ and instead replacing it with the purpose of those meetings.
Meetings should have one of three purposes.
Share information (status updates).
Gather feedback (review of deliverables).
Make a decision (decision workshops).
Instead of offering clients unlimited meetings, I’d suggest offering a fixed number of each of the above.
Let’s go through each of these.
Replace Weekly Calls With A Fixed Number Of Status Updates
In the past, we’ve offered clients weekly calls. This means we set up a recurring time on the calendar to check in and go through the latest updates on the project together. This helps us share updates, review the project, and maintain relationships with clients too.
However, weekly calls can be a trap. If the project is delayed because, say, the client wasn’t able to get you access to things you need, you start having more weekly calls than you intend. I had one client where a 12-week project morphed into an 8-month project - but we still had weekly calls each week.
This is 20 more calls than we had planned.
Instead of offering unlimited weekly calls, offer a fixed number of status updates.
If it’s a 12-week project, offer there should be 12 status updates. If the activity is delayed, you might want to delay the status update too. Whatever happens, you still offer the same quantity and quality of calls, but you don’t offer unlimited calls - especially when delays aren’t caused by you.
A client can always see the status of any project by looking at your project tracker. However, a status update meeting is when you need to go through the status of the project.
I’d suggest numbering each status update too (e.g. [1/12], [2/12] etc…) so it’s clear how far along the journey you are.
Now you’re not on the hook for projects which take longer than anticipated and people will be more inclined to participate in the review.
Host A Workshop For Decision-Making
In addition to a given number of status updates, I’d also suggest offering 1 to 3 workshops to facilitate decision-making.
These are great for situations when you need to guide stakeholders to make a decision which will move the project forward.
However, if a decision is to be made on a call, it’s good to give serious thought to how that decision will be made.
Is it by consensus?
If so, a consensus by whom? (everyone from junior staff to the most senior? Or just the senior execs?) Does it need a majority? Super-majority? Or unanimous consent?
Or is the decision made by a single individual who needs to hear all the relevant information first? If it’s a single person who makes a decision, then be clear about what information they need to make that decision. Ensure they are provided with a decision, the pros and cons of that decision, and are then able to ask questions and make a choice.
These are two completely different types of workshops.
Host Up To Three Reviews of Deliverables
The final type of meeting you should offer is a fixed number of reviews of deliverables.
These are sessions of 30 minutes to one hour where you present a deliverable (or the current status of a deliverable) and gather feedback on it from attendees.
More often than not, this is a presentation. You present what you’ve done so far and the client can provide feedback.
Decision workshops are typically 60 minutes long. You should send the deliverables out in advance so people can browse the content and prepare questions before the presentation.
Make sure you record these sessions for anyone who was unable to make it and give up to two weeks to gather any additional feedback on final deliverables.
Offer [x] Critical Update Calls
This is probably the most contentious, but I’d suggest limiting the number of ad-hoc calls a client can request of you.
Instead of hopping on a call any time a client asks, be sure to clarify the purpose of the meeting and see if there is another way to resolve than a call.
For example…
If they wish to share an update, then that can be done either via email or in the designated status update meeting.
If they wish to provide feedback, then that can be done by email or in a feedback session.
If they wish to show you something, that can often be achieved by a recorded video.
The only time you should hop on a call outside of the above with a client is when either:
There is an urgent issue.
There is a complicated issue.
Before a call, it should be clear whether the call is to:
Gather feedback.
Share information
Agree a decision.
Once you know this you can decide whether to jump on the call or not.
I’d suggest offering 3 to 5 ‘critical update’ calls. They are calls a client can request at any time in the project.
Be Firm, But Flexible
The goal here is to reduce the number of calls and meetings on both sides of the project while significantly increasing their value. If you do this right, you will find the project progresses faster than you might expect and things tend to be more organised than they were before.
Reducing the number of meetings is a kindness on both sides.
However, you can always be flexible if you need to be. If you feel you need more information, then request more calls. Likewise, if a client needs a one-off call outside of the above, you can offer that. What matters is there is an agreement on both sides to treat meetings with the value and respect they deserve.
…because they don’t come cheap.