You want clients to look forward to your meetings …

You want clients to look forward to your meetings …

and remember you afterwards.

5 ideas to help you stand out:

1/ Create an environment that enhances the meeting. I've had music, huge visuals, Koosh balls. Use your imagination. Ditch dull slide-ware and sketch on a whiteboard. Or use a game to highlight a workflow issue.

2/ Change the audience. Gather together a group of different stakeholders to look at the issues at hand. Try mixing people from HQ with regional office representatives. Or grassroots staff with Directors. Get them to step into each other's shoes.

3/ Bring fresh information and present it in a high-impact way. Try producing an infographic, checklist, or case study. Something that challenges, educates, entertains, or inspires your client. Encourage them to talk about the insights they get and what they'd like to change as a result.

4/ Don't let clients take themselves too seriously. Use your sense of humour, keep things light, and make the whole process fun. Let's face it most business meetings are like boredom on wheels. They sometimes need a shove to get them moving.

5/ Use real stories from the client's business. Things they won't have heard before that you've gathered during interviews. If you can incorporate something about your client's customers that's even more powerful. Bring a perspective that helps them see how they affect others … via their work and decisions.

6/ The bonus. Become
… need I say more about that?

Apply these ideas and people will look forward to meeting you. Create an exceptional experience every time. Stand out from the crowd.