Meetings for Introverts: Part Two

Hands up if you have to take a break after each meeting.

I don’t mean run and get another coffee before the next one starts. I mean, go outside or stare into the corner of your office for 10 minutes to rid yourself of the stress.

Just me?

If you read the last post, you’ll know I’m in the middle of a series on meetings for the introverted or socially anxious among us. To recap, I’m trying to solve three concerns you may have before joining a meeting.

• I’m going to run into some technical issues that will be embarrassing. (you can find that post here)
• I’ll get asked a question that I can’t answer.
• The information I present will be received poorly.

Last week we spoke about the technical issues. Today we’re going to talk about the one that stresses me out the most.

What if I get asked a question I can’t answer?

Let’s say you’re in a meeting discussing the financial reports from last month. You’ve spent all week preparing the reports. You’re in the middle of reviewing the big picture when you hear:

“Hey, why are Widget Sales so much higher than they were last month? I thought we made most of those sales two months ago.”

Inner monologue: Oh, crap. Did I put those sales in the wrong account? Were they supposed to be Sprockets instead? Will they notice me furiously clicking and typing while I try to pull up QuickBooks to see what went wrong?

Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this. A simple question makes you second guess yourself. You completed these days ago, and you just don’t remember the details.

If that sounds familiar, here are a few tips to help you be better prepared.

Know Your Client

As bookkeepers, we can get focussed on the data. That’s important, but your clients are also people. (unless they aren’t...if you have animal or alien clients, I want to know more)

When you interact with them, be aware of what kinds of questions they ask. Is there something they’re focussed on lately? Maybe they’re always stressed about how much the business spends on office supplies.

I highly recommend taking notes. If you have a checklist that you reference when compiling reports, include notes about what accounts to highlight. You could also add these notes to the meeting on your calendar. (just don’t do this if it’s a shared calendar item with your client...that will be awkward)

Before your meeting, review your notes. You can’t be ready for everything, but having these in mind will help you know what to expect.

Know Your Client’s Business

The extent to which you can do this depends on your business. If you have 50 clients, you might know each client’s name, industry, and relative size. If you have a handful of clients, you might remember the owner’s dog’s name and their largest vendors’ phone numbers.

I’m a big fan of digging into each business as much as possible. I enjoy the work, but it’s also valuable when meeting with the client. If you don’t have the time to memorize the office manager’s coffee order, that’s ok. Here are two tips that might help.

Add questions and observations to your notes as you compile the reports. Include any unexpected balances or unusual transactions. Take 10 minutes before the meeting to scan your notes. You won’t remember what notes you took last week. A quick refresher will help.

Having these insights help you field questions, and you might point out an issue your client hadn’t noticed.

Prepare Your Materials

If you can’t come into a meeting having read the whole book, at least bring the book, and the Coles Notes (Cliff Notes for non-Canadians), and have the movie adaptation streaming on a second screen.

In other words, have the answers near you. Have the report you’re reviewing, but also have QB or Xero or whatever you use open. Have last month’s report close by, and bonus points if you’ve got the report from this time last year.

More Bonus Points: If you’re using cloud-based bookkeeping software, familiarize yourself with opening multiple tabs. It takes so long to click into a line item on a report, find the information, get back to the report, and then click the next line item. Instead, use ⌘+Click on a Mac or Ctrl+Click on Windows to open a link in a new tab. Then you can have a few key details open in your browser at the same time. And Finally If someone asks a question you can’t answer, don’t panic! Whatever you do, resist the urge to yell out your best guess. I’ve done this so many times.

Client: “What do you think sales will be this month?” Me: “Umm, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be just over $55,000.” Client” “Wow, that’s great news! Thanks, I’ll go tell the team.”

Oh wait, that was the other client. This client’s sales were terrible this month. They’ll be lucky to hit $30,000.

Instead of holding up the meeting while you look it up, simply write down the question, and let them know you’ll look into it.

And then actually do that.

Set a task to look up the answer, and follow up in a reasonable amount of time. It keeps the meeting moving forward and gives you time to find out the right answer. Plus, it lets your clients know “I’ll look into it” isn’t an empty promise or delay tactic.

The goal here is to be and feel prepared. Know what you’re going to be talking about, and be prepared for as much as possible. It makes the meeting much less stressful.

Ok, so we’ve got your technical issues out of the way, and you’re prepared for the meeting. Next time, we’re going to talk about presenting the information to your clients.

If you want to get that post as soon as it comes out, subscribe to my free bookkeeping newsletter.