First Time
by I've got my first meeting with a client on Friday. I'm pretty nervous. It's for a divorce case, and the client seems to have no sense of humor about it at all (not that many people do). When I was setting up the appointment with him earlier, he didn't seem very happy with the idea of coming in to discuss his case.
Does anyone have any suggestions for professionalism when meeting with clients? I always seem to get too informal too quickly to try to make clients feel comfortable, but I don't want to do that at this firm, because it seems that formality is very important. I'm going to be meeting with clients more than the attorney is, so I've got to represent the entire firm. That's much more pressure than I'm used to. I've got my little power suit, and I'll make sure to floss my teeth, but I'm still nervous that he'll see me as what I am: A 5'2" 21-year-old that has no formal training and isn't qualified to talk about the details of his case.
Even when I talked at my first door out in service, I wasn't nervous. I think the difference is that in service, I was talking about something I really loved, and since I was 10, it was ok if I screwed up. My boss is going to make sure he's in the office in case I need him, but I want to prove to him that I can handle the job. Any suggestions would be really helpful. Except "Just imagine him in his underwear" because I don't think he's a very attractive guy.
UPDATE:
My meeting went really well. The client was really easy-going. He said that I answered all of his questions and that he liked meeting with me more than the attorney! My boss was impressed with how I handled myself.
Thanks for your suggestions, everyone!
AI Summary
4 Comments
as someone who has meetings with clients fairly often...it's always better to be extra-professional, rather than less.
Get right to the point as quickly as possible, have all necessary materials (paperwork, whatever) ready, so you don't have to hunt for it.
Say what time you think you'll start and end at the beginning, so it doesn't drag on. Feel free to say "I have another appointment at x" or "I have to return a call at x", so that the time limit is there.
Offer water or coffee. I HATEEEEEEE when I go to an appointment, I'm dying of thirst, and no one offers.
Other than that...I hope it goes well ...
maybe trying imagining him in a diaper...of the pull up brief persuation... you should be allllllright
Confidence is a MAJOR PLUS! even if you're not, you can pull it off, improvise and you'll be a TOTAL professional!
what helps me i guess, is to think, that the client really doesn't KNOW what you're "supposed to" say. You're the expert not them. Even if you do mess up, it's a good chance they will never know. If this client treats you in any unfair way because of your height/age/whatever, that's just wrong. You wouldn't treat him badly because he's "stupid enough" to need a divorce, right? You're there to help him... if he doesn't understand that, he might just be an idiot.