Realizing there could be unspoken dynamics at play with clients

There were a sister and brother who were business partners. I was directing my conversation to the brother,  who was engaging more with me and who I assumed was more involved in that part of the business. The other partner, the sister, was not engaged well. I found out later that the father almost disowned the son. And sister was just kind of quiet through this whole process. The conversation stopped at that meeting, and she really let me know there were some underlying issues we needed to get into in our next meeting. I said, “Good, let’s set up another appointment and give me some information along the way.”

There were some underlying issues there that really took time to get straightened out. It was somewhat embarrassing, I must say.

I’ve learned to not just talk to one, but talk to all who are present. And make everyone feel like they are engaged in that overall process.

Randall D. Kaufmann is a 38-year MDRT member from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Hear more in the December episode of the MDRT Podcast:

See more about setting up and executing a family meeting.

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