When you’re starting a new relationship with a client and meeting them for the very first time, you need to be prepared. How do you maximise your time and ensure you get what you need from the meeting and ultimately the work?

Here are our top tips for setting an agenda:

• Know your interviewer. Ensure you know there full name and position. If in doubt, call The Work Crowd team and they can fill in any gaps that are missing. You can then do some preliminary research on them.
• Find out what your interviewer wants to get out of the meeting. They likely have their own agenda, so you can adjust yours to cover the key elements they are looking to get from the meeting and add in your own needs.
• Lay out your priority discussion points. This might include where the business is today, their goals over the next 6 months or year, customers and prospects, products, services, challenges, competition, and opportunities. It would also be useful to ask about their current set up, successes and areas that need improvement. Other points should be tailored based on the project.
• An overview of your approach. What you want to cover and the services you provide.
• How you work. What’s your availability, how do you usually communicate, what tools do you use, and how you work with clients.
• Making it a success. Make sure you tell them what you will need from them to make sure the relationship works. Communication is often key so make sure there is clarity around who your point person is going forward.

We recommend putting together a top line agenda and sharing this with the client ahead of your meeting. This will create clarity and set the tone for a professional working relationship.