A little while back, I got an email from an advisor thanking me for an idea he'd gotten from one of my posts.

When meeting with prospective clients, this advisor had been struggling with how best to discuss his credentials and approach. There are lots of things we'd like to share with prospects:

• our background and experience
• credentials and expertise
• investment philosophy and approach
• track record
• commitment to client service and how we deal with clients
• process for ongoing communication
• and how we differ from other advisors, to name just a few.

This advisor had been struggling with how to present all the information he wanted to convey about his business in a way which prospects could absorb and which would make the conversation focus on them rather than him.

Then he saw an April post on this blog titled "Tough questions for advisors", in which I outlined ten questions advisors should be prepared for when competing for a prospect's business.

As he read this, a light went on. He took some of the questions in that post, added some of his own and ended up with a presentation that he calls "Ten questions you should ask a financial advisor".

When meeting with prospects, he tells them that in his experience there are ten critical questions investors need to ask before deciding to work with an advisor - and asks their permission to walk them through those questions and his answers to them. He has put this together in a 12-page presentation with one question at the top of each page and his point form response underneath ; after reviewing each page, he invites questions and discussion. At the end of the meeting, he gives prospects the presentation handout to take with them.

He has found this approach results in much improved dynamics in his meetings with prospects. There's more back and forth conversation. Clients are better able to absorb the key points he wants to leave them with. And by outlining the questions investors should be concerned about, he's able to help investors who otherwise aren't sure what questions to ask to hone in on the key things they should focus on.

No matter how you do it, one of the keys to successful meetings with prospective clients is communicating information in a way they're able to relate to and absorb, with a view to getting a real discussion and dialogue going.( If you'd like to see the April 28 post on tough questions for advisors, scroll down to Post Archives and click on April or search for "Tough questions for advisors".)