CLIENT MEETINGS 😬
7 phrases for client meetings
that win the work, hold your scope, and get you paid
You likely talk in meetings with clients almost every single day. They are one of the main ways consultants and creatives build trust and get sht done so we can get paid!
But meetings are TRICKY. Here are 7 phrases that do a lot of work on your behalf.
Here are seven go-to phrases I use all the time to shape and sharpen client meetings.
When you need to focus a meeting and capture everyone's attention and positive behaviours
👉 "What's the most valuable thing we can do today?"
Why I say this:
I want us to agree together right up front how we'd like to use this time (even if it's kind of generally obvious from the meeting name).
This helps me in three ways:
1. It sets the tone as peers - what's useful to you, what's useful to me? Both of our time is valuable.
2. It picks up on what is front of their mind right here today or new since we booked the call and sharpens their attention as we head into the conversation
3. This phase allows me to immediately start to shape and scope the meeting so we are headed into the same conversation and not tripping up, missing expectations or wasting time.
Also, it feels nice to be asked this!
Variations:
- What's the best use of our time today?
- What is the best possible conversation we can have today?
When something has gone wrong or people are annoyed (including you!)
👉 "Let's acknowledge that..."
Why I say this:
There's often an elephant in the room on a client call. The budget's tighter than the brief, the timeline has slipped, the last freelancer didn't work out. These things will colour the whole conversation (on your side or theirs) if they are left unsaid.
I say it "Let's acknowledge that..." to neutralise the power of unwanted reality :-) and show that I am someone who can handle difficult conversations fairly and without drama.
I use it when:
- I need us to spot and accept paradoxes - and make progress anyway
- There are competing views/priorities in the room etc (and show that's ok)
- There is a risk of emotions running the show - instead we give them voice and validate them
Variations:
"Let's acknowledge that the budget and the wish list aren't quite the same size yet. Let's talk about how to handle that today."
- "Let's acknowledge we've lost a couple of weeks since we started, so let's talk about what that does to the deadline."
- "Let's acknowledge that this has grown a fair bit since we first spoke."
- "Let's acknowledge that the last person who did this left you in a tricky spot, and we all want it to go well this time."
- "Let's acknowledge that this is a big decision with a lot riding on it for you."
When I need to make it safe for me to disagree with them
👉 "It's important that we disagree today. But we're going to disagree really well 😀"
Why I say this:
Freelancers often swallow their real view to keep the peace, then quietly resent the project later. You don't have to.
Saying something like this up front gives everyone permission to challenge and be challenged, and it makes clear you're doing it in service of the work, not to be difficult.
Clients tend to respect the freelancer who'll tell them the inconvenient thing. It's often the reason they wanted outside expertise in the first place.
Variations
- "I will almost certainly push back on a few things today, and I hope you'll push back on me too. That's how we get to the best answer."
- "It's helpful that we see this differently. Let's get it all on the table so we make a good call."
When I need to hold a boundary e.g. around scope, cost or anything else we agreed including what we said we'd do in this meeting.
👉 "We said we would..."
When I use this
If the meeting, the scope or anything else is going off track, I remind the group what we had agreed to do at the start. It's not a question but an observation. I simply want to redirect the group's focus so everyone can decide what they'd like to do next. To do this, I use my tone as neutrally as possible.
Variations:
- "We said we'd keep this phase to the three deliverables we scoped."
- "We said we would sign-off today so I can start Monday."
- "We agreed I'd get your feedback within two days to protect the timeline."
- "We said we'd park the redesign for phase two and focus on the launch today."
- "We agreed the deposit before I begin. When that lands, I can start work."
When I just know they are going to try and stretch every part of this meeting and budget outta shape!
👉 (proactively at the very start) "What's in scope today is... But X is out of scope"
When I use it:
I find people are quickly side tracked by related things they think should be different but aren't. This phrase helps refocus the conversation from things we can't control (or things I can't do) to things we can.
This phrase draws a clear line without a hint of confrontation. Being precise about what "yes" covers is a genuine gift to a client. It gives them clarity and a creative constraint :-)
I help people self-moderate by making boundaries clear.
Variations:
- "Today, we will do ABC, but we wont' do DEF"
When someone has a bee in their bonnet and we can't make progress
👉 "Can you describe the criteria you think we should be using to make this decision? Feel free to go all out on detail!
When I use this:
I find sometimes clients are thinking aloud with me - they have something they're trying to convey but we can't get to it. We keep circling the same decision and I'm getting frustrated and we're wasting time!
Sometimes, I can tell a client is frustrated (not necessarily with me) and I want to diffuse this and any other negative energies that harm our ability to work together.
But I want to surface the positive intention and useful data so we can use it.
So I open the door to the detail - but refocus the person on the facts we can use. Make sense?
Variations
- "What must we absolutely understand / consider as we look at this issue? Feel free to give us lots of detail."
When you want to catch missed expectations or crucial data
👉 "Is there anything you thought we would cover but we didn't?"
When I use this:
The concern a client doesn't raise on the call is the one that resurfaces as a problem three weeks later. Asking this right at the end catches the unspoken worry while it's still cheap to deal with. In a first discovery call it's even more useful, because the objection someone almost mentioned is often the exact thing standing between you and winning the work. This has saved me SO many times and something fascinating and crucial almost always comes out.
I'm always tempted not to ask this because it's a 'can of worms' question. Uh-oh, there's something huge and now there's no time for it!
So I see it as a car park question and I follow up with something like: "What bucket should that go into?" or "What's the best place to tackle that?"
Variations:
- What questions didn't we answer today?
- What were you hoping to achieve from today that we didn't get to?
Let me know how you get on
I'm improving these phrases all the time - and I'd love to know how you get on.
You can drop me a line here.
