How to Prepare for a Client Meeting?

Client meetings are an integral part of any business activity. Fundamental knowledge of building valuable relationships with contractors is incredibly valuable, not only for positions directly related to sales or customer service. The ability to establish the right connection with a client, understand their needs, and offer appropriate products or solutions can be key to success in the competitive business world. That’s why it’s crucial to plan every business meeting properly and consider the objectives you want to achieve.

How to Propose a Meeting?

Setting up a meeting with clients with whom you have already established a relationship is not as complicated as with new clients, whose interest you still need to capture. To effectively attract new buyers, make sure that the people you call or email to present your offer are genuinely likely to be interested. It’s important to have at least a preliminary understanding of the client’s business at this stage.

Whether dealing with new or existing clients, it’s a good idea to present the value that the meeting will bring to the client when proposing a meeting.

The next step is to set a convenient meeting time — it’s essential to consider the time you will need to prepare for the event. It’s also a good practice to inform the client how long the meeting is expected to last so they can fit it into their schedule and give you their full attention.

Setting the meeting time can sometimes feel like a ping-pong match, often referred to as a “turn-based battle.” Even if your calendar is free all day, it’s more effective to suggest a few specific times — for example, 9:00, 12:00, and 15:00, rather than saying, “Please suggest a time; I’m available all day,” and symbolically shifting the responsibility to the client.

What Is a Meeting Agenda?

In business, time is one of the most valuable resources. Therefore, a meeting with a contractor should always be appropriately planned by preparing a business meeting agenda. What is an agenda? It’s simply a meeting plan written in bullet points, explaining its purpose. The agenda should also specify the duration of each stage of the meeting. If you don’t have experience in this area yet and don’t know how long each part might take, a good solution is to time yourself during a trial run and base the duration on that.

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Business Meeting Plan — Example

A sample plan for a meeting with a new client to present your offer might look like this:

1. Greeting and small talk (5 minutes)
2. Introducing the meeting’s purpose (3 minutes)
3. Presenting the offer (15 minutes)
4. Explaining how the offer meets the client’s needs (10 minutes)
5. Questions and discussion (15 minutes)
6. Summary and agreement on next steps (10 minutes)

At the beginning of each meeting, it’s important to present the agenda, so the client knows what to expect, and any potential concerns can be clarified later in the presentation.

How to Talk to the Client?

One of the most common mistakes made by professionals is assuming that their conversation partners have the same knowledge as they do. This phenomenon, known as the “curse of knowledge,” causes experts to use specialized terms without explaining their meaning when speaking to non-experts. As a result, the conversation partners become lost in the sea of new terminology and cannot extract valuable information or conclusions from the discussion.

During a client meeting, it’s crucial to use simple, understandable language. During the presentation, explain to the client any concepts, products, or processes that are regularly used in your industry. Ensure that the client feels comfortable asking even the simplest questions. The better potential contractors understand your business area and the goods or services you offer, the more likely they are to cooperate with you.

The conclusion of the meeting is also significant — the final step, summarizing the discussion. This is the moment to clearly outline the next steps and avoid any misunderstandings. Does the client need to meet with the decision-maker before the next meeting can take place (or not)? Write it down — and you can set a task for yourself in TastyTask or another task management system to call the client in 2 or 3 days to check on the progress of the decision-making process. Even if the ball is in the client’s court at this stage, you must still keep track of deadlines and demonstrate (non-intrusive) initiative.

Source: Task management system TastyTask, tastytask.com

What to Prepare Before an In-Person Meeting?

The preparation process for a meeting is slightly different depending on whether you decide to meet offline or in the digital realm.

If you decide to invite the client to your office:

• Make sure to provide them with the exact address and any necessary directions.
• Prepare an appropriate space at the company headquarters where the meeting can proceed without interruptions and won’t distract other employees.
• Ensure that the client doesn’t get lost in the maze of office corridors — greet them at reception and escort them to the exit after the meeting.

What to Prepare Before an Online Meeting?

If you decide to meet with the client remotely, the list of things you need to take care of will look slightly different.

• In the location where you’ll be sitting in front of the screen, there must be peace and quiet.
• A stable internet connection will be essential.
• Before connecting with the client, check that your headphones, microphone, and camera are working correctly and that your background is neutral and static. Technology sometimes likes to play tricks, but in the vast majority of cases, errors are user-related and thus avoidable.
• Check if the presentation you want to show doesn’t contain draft notes and opens correctly, and if the file is not damaged.
• Make sure you haven’t left any sensitive data of other clients on your desktop or in your browser bookmarks.

All of this matters ‘when it counts.’

Many people avoid using the camera during online meetings. However, the ability to observe facial expressions and gestures supports communication and significantly facilitates building a relationship with the client. It’s also a simple way to increase participants’ engagement — it’s easier to stay focused when you know you’re being watched.

How to Prepare for a Client Meeting — Quick Checklist

1. Define goals.
2. Prepare substantively.
3. Bring necessary materials and test technical aspects (if the meeting is online).
4. Don’t be late — for many clients, even a 5-minute delay can be a deal-breaker, and more sensitive individuals might perceive it as an insult and a waste of time.
5. After the meeting, stick to the agreements — take notes, assign tasks to yourself or colleagues (e.g., in TastyTask), and monitor progress.