Meeting actions speak louder than words

Wanna get in on the ‘action’ of actions? Learn how to ensure stuff actually gets done between your client meetings.

What are actions?

There’s an old proverb that goes, ‘Actions speak louder than words.’
It’s tricky to pin down who said that first. Supposedly it was an English parliamentarian called John Pym in 1628. Others say it was Elvis. As in, “a little less conversation, a little more action please”. A huh-huh.

In the context of client meetings, ‘actions’ (or meeting action items) are essentially the tasks that you take away from the time spent with your clients. You might hear these called ‘outcomes’ or ‘next steps’. Nobody wants meetings for the sake of meetings, but making your client sessions outcome-oriented is easier said than done.

What’s the best way to connect the dots between what you say in your client meetings and what you do to deliver progression in your relationships?

Answer: assign actions!

Why are actions important for building client relationships?

Let’s take a look at some basic psychology.

In the article ‘10 Ways To Build Trust in a Relationship‘, the website PositivePsychology.com cites an important element for building trust in any human relationship:

“Be true to your word. Honour your commitments and don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Your client relationships are just that – relationships. Prioritising honest, open and accessible conversations with your clients is the first step to building that relationship – it’s like we keep saying, ‘it’s good to talk with clients.

To prove your worth to clients, however, you need to go a step further than the conversation. Force yourself to be accountable for whatever ideas you verbally commit to and keep to everything you say you’re going to do. Remember the proverb! Actions speak louder than words.

Setting actions with your client, post or during your meeting, is the best way to assign ownership and a transparent responsibility for completing those set actions. Prove that you keep your promises by indicating to your client as soon as these actions are complete. Continually completing this cycle establishes trust.

Like any relationship, however, it’s a two-way street. Your client also needs to bring meeting preparation to the table and put in the pre-work to really get the most out of your sessions. They need to complete some actions too!

Our CEO, Andrew Jordon, explains this in a quote that reflects one of the pain-points that led to the creation of Connect4:

Meetings are the medium for action.

Advisers talking to a prospect or a regular client want to discuss, make decisions and then implement. But after a meeting a client or a prospect forgets the vast majority of the agreed actions.

We’ve created a system whereby meetings achieve their core purpose.

Connect4

Want to get in on the ‘action’ of Meeting Actions? Start your Connect4 experience here.

Actions in Connect4

When was the last time you showed up to a meeting and no one had completed their agreed actions?

Yeah, it happens to us too.

However, when it happens with a client this can erode the work put into your relationship – especially if it happens consistently over time.

The client experience provided by a Connect4 dedicated pod enforces the value of client relationships. We use agendas to facilitate discussion, meeting minutes to document conversations, and actions for post meeting progression. All of these are captured and can be referenced at any time. This drives accountability, consistency and action while moving forward together.

Connect4 allows for the end-to-end meeting loop to remain continuous and in-tact. Everything you need is in the same place and meetings can pick up where they left off.

Create Action

Our actions feature brings clarity by giving you the ability to commit to and assign actions during or post meeting. In addition to making meeting notes, you can assign actions to clients, members of your team and even yourself!

Action items remain in a pod, until you tick them off. So you can easily keep track of progress between meetings.

Read more about the Connect4 actions feature here.

Introducing ‘My actions’

To make workflows easy for those in multiple Connect4 meeting pods, we’re pleased to announce that My actions is available to all members.

See a quick summary of your Outstanding (and Completed) actions across all your pods in one place. This allows you to stay accountable for the actions assigned to you and anyone participating in your meeting pods.

Conclusion

It’s important to prioritise accountability, consistency and action while moving forward with your clients. Using actions will help to establish the trust you need to keep clients satisfied with your service.

As we hope you can tell by now, we believe in following through with our actions. Fancy giving it a go yourself?

Here are your 3 actions to take away with you before we next meet:

  1. Read this article again ☑️
  2. Actions are only one element of meeting prep. Learn more about setting meeting agendas here ☑️
  3. Follow Connect4 on LinkedIn and Twitter for more tips for your client meetings! ☑️

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Kathryn Bezuidenhout

Kathryn is Connect4’s Digital Marketing Executive. She works on all things content and social media.

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