Note

Meetings essentially equal client engagement and sales outcomes.  

1. Better engage and support their existing clients
   
2. Onboard new clients in a structured way that encourages a high-value relationship
   
3. Better promote their advisory services
   
4. Develop meeting rhythms that maximise monthly recurring revenues
   
   

The five essential meetings

1. The Proactive Accounting Meeting (PAM): a complimentary 45-minute discovery meeting with a prospective client to ascertain fit and begin the relationship on the best footing.
   
2. The Complimentary Client Review (CCR): a complimentary 60-minute meeting held annually with clients that helps re-engage existing clients to review their current situation and access additional support from your firm to help them achieve their goals.
   
3. The Annual Accounts Review Meeting (AAR): a 45-minute meeting to review your client’s draft Annual Accounts. It helps your client understand their Annual Accounts and tax position while allowing you to demonstrate the value you’ve provided to them and identify opportunities to improve their position. 
   
4. The Monthly Momentum Meeting: a 15-minute monthly call with your client to ensure they’ve read and understood their monthly Management Report, providing an opportunity to address any concerns and discuss positive results identified in the report. You'll also help the client set three actions to be completed over the month, demonstrating the value of planning and accountability.
   
5. The Accountability Coaching Meeting: generally a 60-minute meeting (depending on client needs) designed to hold clients accountable for achieving better results. You'll provide a sounding board to discuss ideas prior to implementation and identify and help solve the client’s burning issues. You'll also help your client keep their Business Plan alive by resetting their quarterly goals and actions.  
   

What you call these meetings isn’t important. Some of our Gap members tweak the names to reflect their

brand. What is important is that accounting firms are delivering these meetings

Go to Navigation panel >  Leadership > Best Practice > Guide to the Five Essential Meetings for more detail on each of these meetings.

Important info

What you call these meetings is not important. What is important is that your firm is delivering these meetings.    

Complimentary vs paid meetings

Where should you start?

Essential resources

1. Pre-work.
   Pre-work should be completed by everyone attending the meeting. This ensures attendees are engaged in the process and have some understanding of what they want to achieve from the meeting. It also allows the facilitator to prepare for the session, identify any misalignment between attendees, and prevents the session from becoming a ‘meeting of discovery’. If pre-work has not been submitted at least 48 hours before the session, follow up with attendees and reschedule the meeting if they can’t submit their pre-work prior to the session with time for you to review.
   
   
2. Agenda.
   
   All meetings need a clear agenda to refer to during and after the meeting to ensure objectives are met. If the client starts to go off track, seeking specific advice, use the agenda to bring them back to the purpose of the meeting and gain conceptual agreement to schedule an additional meeting to discuss and address the issue. In Gap content, agendas are clearly defined within a service's Delivery Notes.
   
   
3. Delivery Notes.
   
   Use the Delivery Notes to guide the conversation. They provide estimated timing information, questions, and speaking points, covering the information critical to meeting the session's objectives and areas that you should tailor to client needs. They also include questions you can ask that identify opportunities for your firm to support your clients beyond the session.
   
   
   
   Generally, the Delivery Notes are designed to help you:
   
   1. Ask questions to engage attendees in the process - you are facilitating, not advising
      
   2. Identify what your client is looking to achieve and why
      
   3. Clarify the actions needed to be taken, by whom, and by when
      
   4. Reinforce their objectives, outcomes, and value gained from the meeting
      
   5. BAMFAM - Book A Meeting From A Meeting - to ensure continuous improvement for your client (and re-engagement for you)
      

   
   
4. Meeting Minutes.
   

   Meeting Minutes should be completed during each meeting and should be visible to attendees throughout the session. The facilitator should check in frequently to ensure they are an accurate reflection of what was discussed and agreed to in session. Record any additional services required with a due date and fee quoted. Meeting Minutes should be emailed to the client immediately following the meeting.
   
   
5. Mindsets.
   

   Go to Navigation panel >  Mindset Tools to check out some highly relevant mindsets to aid your confidence, positioning and delivery.
   
   1. Ask Don't Tell
      
   2. Be Do Have
      
   3. The Formula for Change
      
   4. Wants Versus Needs
      
   5. Spin Cycle
      
   6. Four Stages of Learning
      
   7. 5 Star Coaching
      
      

1. The objectives of the work you’re doing to do, e.g. the problems the service will solve.
   
2. How you’ll measure the success of the work, e.g. the noticeable changes to their business.
   
3. The value the service will deliver, e.g. a $10,000 cashflow improvement (financial freedom), ability to reduce hours from 60 to 40 per week (time freedom), or peace of mind that the tax position will withstand scrutiny (mind freedom). 
   
4. The options for how you can deliver this value, e.g. Business Plan only or Business Plan with coaching.
   
5. When and how you’ll deliver the service.
   
6. How much it will cost.