Virtual meetings have become very popular in the last few years. It is a great way of meeting clients, but how do you set it up?
When you have more than one person participating in a virtual meeting, it can be a bit more complicated. It is important to make sure you have everything set up correctly.
I will share with you some tips and tricks that will help you make a great virtual meeting.
How to set up a virtual meeting with clients
Get ready in advance.
Meetings with clients in person can be frightening. A certain amount of pressure is relieved when you can see them on TV. But that doesn’t imply your team can relax. Impressing someone digitally can be more difficult, therefore your team needs to be ready in advance.
Setting a specific agenda for the client meeting and making it known to them in advance is the first step. Both parties involved will be aware of the expectations in this way. Your team should also prepare notes outlining all the key themes to be discussed. It’s a good idea to have solutions on hand for any issues that they might bring up.
The guest list is a different aspect to think about as you get ready for a virtual client meeting. Every online conference has awkward pauses, interruptions, and occasionally even technical issues. Invite only the team members who are crucial to the discussion at the meeting to prevent confusion.
learn how to use technology tools
Your choice of technology can have a significant impact on how well your virtual client conference goes. Teams can host client meetings using a variety of software tools, but not all of them offer the same benefits.
To make client meetings more interesting, Zoom allows you to share your screen and take polls. You may instantly add visuals to your screen using tools like Prezi Video. You can give in-depth presentations using this tool during client meetings.
It’s crucial to conduct a test run before any virtual client meetings to ensure that everyone on the team is familiar with the equipment. If necessary, conduct a training session for them.
Note: Equipment like your projectors, laptops, phones and network devices should also be tested and set up properly before the meeting.
Utilize audio, video, and all the other features that you would normally use in a client meeting during the test run. Of course, there can be a few unexpected hiccups, but it’s important to be as ready as you can be.
Make appointments with clients
It might be difficult to schedule a client meeting, especially when there are several time zones involved. Meetings with your clients could be challenging to schedule because of their other obligations or schedule conflicts. It is advised that your team contact clients well in advance because of this.
Your team can use resources like Worldtimebuddy, World Clock Meeting Planner, and others to determine the ideal time window across various places. Make sure your team confirms that there are some open overlapping time blocks before scheduling any last-minute meetings. Sending reminder emails to everyone who has been invited to the meeting is also a smart idea.
Steer clear of unnecessary topics
It can be difficult to schedule a meeting that is convenient for both your staff and your clients. As a result, when everyone involved in a project is on a conference call, each participant should manage their time well. Focus the discourse on topics that are significant to each participant. Although, as you are aware from participating in meetings with numerous individuals, this is frequently easier said than done. It necessitates consciously maintaining the course.
Interjections that are pertinent can bring up issues that are crucial but may only require one or two individuals to work on them. These two-person discussions ought to happen in private, without consuming the time of anyone else. Keep an eye out for the agenda as you run each call and try to avoid wasting time on things that don’t need to be discussed. As they come up, jot them down so you can talk about them later.
Follow up with remarks
The preparation needed to run a successful online meeting doesn’t end with the call. Making contact with each participant is a crucial step in the procedure and is required to guarantee that the things you mentioned are carried out. The easiest method to do this is typically a simple follow-up email.
First, respond to any inquiries you weren’t able to address during the call and give the client any more information they wanted. Include a summary of any actions or follow-up items mentioned after that. By doing this, you can guarantee that everyone on your team and the client’s team is aligned and has the same expectations for the future. There may be additional reminders in this section of the email about anything you need from them. Finally, if somebody who might have benefited from attending was unable to do so, it’s useful to include evidence of the online meeting.
Remember that calling in and recording the meeting is an extremely helpful aspect of online meetings. Simply add a file attachment or a link to the recording in your email. If necessary, you can also have the call transcription distributed to meeting participants or anyone who is unable to attend.
Final Remarks
When making video chats with clients, there is extra pressure to act professionally. Use this list as a guide to your next virtual meeting with clients and your virtual meeting will be as productive as possible.