For any client facing professional, the ability to record the key elements of meetings is a critical aspect of both efficient workflow and service delivery.
It is also essential for professionals that work in teams, and run or participate in collaborative team meetings, to be able to do the same thing.
Dictation devices have been around for a long time and now there are also a plethora of audio recording apps for smartphones. The challenge is that you need to be able to index the audio files, so that you can find and access the details you may be looking for without having to listen to the whole meeting again.
In almost all circumstances, by creating effective strategies for the recording of meetings and interactions with clients, you can significantly reduce the time spent by client facing professionals (or their support team members) on the creation and documentation of file notes.
The simple fact for any client facing professional is that the value they are able to create is dependent on how they interact with others. As most professionals will be largely meeting with and talking to clients on their own, without the ability to record those interactions it becomes almost impossible to self regulate improvement of the process. It also becomes even harder for companies to develop effective training and support because they lack the fundamental data to be able to identify where improvements can be made.
Any sole proprietor should be investing heavily in their own interpersonal interactions. That means both the ability to review your own performance as well as to seek the expert opinion of objective third parties. However for any business that employs multiple client facing professionals, this is an essential factor in being able to ensure those professionals are as effective as possible and ultimately providing as much value as possible during their interactions with clients.
Through the creation of effective measurement and training, a business is able to significantly reduce compliance and litigation risk that may be brought about by the spoken or written words (or lack thereof) from an individual client facing professional.
However you should understand that the key to the process is more about effective empowerment rather than ‘big brother’ monitoring. We warn you that, if you introduce meeting recording as a security / monitoring methodology without providing the context of empowerment and support (i.e. that it is for their benefit), then you will run the risk of significantly damaging your team culture and overall performance.
In almost all circumstances, breaches of what could be seen as compliance are a result of a fundamental misunderstanding by the individual of their own value, especially in the context of your services. This translates as a perceived need by the individual to over compensate or to take short cuts.
The purpose of recording the interactions with clients, in regards to this section, is to:
a) Identify and deal with compliance breaches proactively
b) Identify the actual causes of the breaches and to create ‘empowerment solutions’ that will actually resolve the issue and create a more valuable team member
Without the ability to measure the changes made by the professional in their interactions with clients it becomes impossible to know what changes are contributing to either an uplift or decrease in key metrics.
Essentially, it not only allows the diagnosis of issues but the success, or lack thereof, of both the changes made by the professional AND the training and support provided by your company.
On an individual professional basis, the following key areas are generally issues that greatly affect the productivity of client professionals:
By measuring the best performers within teams and assessing their interactions with clients, you are able to more rapidly improve your standard engagement protocols and the training you provide to your client facing team members.
In fact, within the scope of your privacy framework, it can also be extremely beneficial to use the actual recordings of your best performers as part of the education and empowerment of those that need more assistance.
Warning: Your greatest resistance to change and especially what could be considered ‘monitoring’, is likely to come from your most senior / successful professionals.
Whilst it is still imperative that your business seek to help and empower these professionals (we can all make improvements). It will be imperative for any business to focus on providing the context to these professionals based on elements such as, ‘for it to work, everyone must do it’ and ‘the business needs to learn from your success’.
It is our recommendation that all physical meetings be recorded in a way that ties the meeting notes to key points in the (audio) discussion associated with the key points being distilled during the meeting.
Whilst there are a range of ways that this may be accomplished via computer or phone, through extensive testing we find that these methods are not as natural, or as easy to master, as the combination of a smartpen and handwriting on physical paper.
Reasons to take notes with pen and paper during physical meetings
Overview
The Livescribe Smartpen has an infrared camera near its writing tip. By using the pen in combination with the specialised dot paper, your handwriting can be digitized. (This paper can also be printed onto your file note templates if preferred, with the use of a laser printer and software provided by Livescribe.
In addition, the pens have an audio recording function that allows the audio from the meeting to be recorded in sync with the notes being taken. When notes are recorded with audio they create a file called a ‘Pencast’. These Pencasts can then be shared as PDF’s which are viewable either through Livescribe applications or a Livescribe cloud based viewer (which does not require software).
Handwritten notes also have the option of being converted into text. Although this may or may not be necessary depending on your requirements and workflow process.
Livescribe currently has 3 models available and each of them has different strengths and weaknesses.
For most businesses that are creating systems for multiple professionals we recommend the oldest version, The Livescribe Echo, for reasons we will soon explain. However, there are two other versions that may be more suited to individuals who are looking for ways to improve their own efficiency.
Brief overview of other models
Recommended pen for teams
The pen we generally recommend for teams or for professionals outside of the suggestions above is the Echo model.
Unlike the other pens, all material is first recorded on the pen itself and is then transferred to a computer through a micro USB cable. The notes are then managed through an application called Echo Desktop.
The meeting recordings can then be exported as special PDF’s to be added to the client’s file in your CRM and for other purposes such as for assessment, training, transcription of audio etc.
To watch a brief introduction to the Echo Smartpen go here https://youtu.be/Lg5QQHlepF0
Reasons for recommending the Echo model
1 | Make sure you have introduced the need to use the pens to your client team and ensure that you have everyone coming along for the ride.
2 | Have one or two key team members experiment with the pen so that they can be instrumental in refining the process for your unique situation.
3 | Have these key member support the broader roll out.
4 | Provide the smartpen users with a suitable suggested script to be used when introducing the pen during client meetings. Here is a sample script that we have found works very well …
Smartpen user vocalises to client
“Before we get started, I wanted to let you know that I like to use a Smartpen to record my meetings. Basically, it records both what I write and what we say so that I can concentrate on our conversation and not worry that I may have missed capturing some of the details.”
Smartpen user vocalises to client
“If it’s ok with you, I would like your permission to record this meeting and our future meetings, so that I am able to do the best job possible in helping you. Of course, anything you say is completely confidential and comes under our company privacy policy (include this part if appropriate to your business and legal situation). And, if there is anything you are not happy with us recording, you can just let me know and I can stop at that point.”
Note: Through thousands of such interactions we have only recorded a handful of scenarios where clients were not happy for the meeting to be recorded.
5 | After explaining ‘the recording of the meeting’ to clients, the professional should go ahead and begin to record the audio of the meeting. At this point of the first recorded meeting, and immediately when beginning the recording, we suggest that the professional should also say out loud.
Smartpen user vocalises to client
“Before we go ahead, I am just confirming that I have explained that we will be recording this meeting and our future meetings, and that you have given me permission to do so in order to help me achieve the best possible outcome for you.”
We find that this is the most effective way to record and acknowledge the client’s consent and to reiterate the value of the process.
6 | We also suggest you put in writing in your client engagement documents the fact that you record client meetings. This may be within your company privacy policy and/or your engagement terms etc. A two tiered approach is best practice, however, ensuring your client facing professionals are explaining the process during the meeting itself is critical.
7 | At the end of the meeting, have the professional create a summary of the meeting with handwritten notes and a verbal recap at the same time. Apply a naming convention for this section that is consistent across ALL recorded meetings within your business to allow for easy access and retrieval.
Suggested titles for the aforementioned section: Meeting Summary or Action Plan
Note: This summary should be succinct i.e. no more than 2 minutes and conducted in front of the client before they leave.
The intention of this is to allow for easy retrieval of the key action points and details from the meeting. However, it is also best practice to clearly articulate at the end of each meeting what was covered, what is to come next and the actions that each party is committing to. The professional should also go over expected time frames and the expectations that each party should have following the meeting.
Often the biggest issues with the delivery of service to clients, or their successful onboarding, is the lack of clarity of expectations that both parties may hold after such a meeting.
This process also makes it far easier for support team members to document and allocate tasks and follow up items at the end of each meeting, deeming it unnecessary for the professional to ‘double up’ after the client meeting has finished and document file notes and issue instructions to support team members after the fact
8 | At the end of each client meeting or alternatively at the end of each work day, the pen should be plugged in and synced to a computer. The recordings should be ‘sorted by client’ and Pencasts exported and attached to the client file in your CRM. We recommend that this task be carried out by a support team member to ensure your client facing professionals are doing more of what they do best i.e. talking to, and giving value to, clients.
If you rely on your client professionals to do these additional steps, we have found that it will be significantly more difficult to have this essential process become a habit. Additionally, you run the risk of developing a large backlog of unprocessed recordings as busy professionals will default to syncing their files in large batches when they remember (or the pressure to do so is great enough).
File note back logs can be very detrimental to the effectiveness of relationship professionals.
9 | We recommend that a support team member be responsible for the recording and allocation of tasks based on the meeting summaries.
Have the meeting summary listened to and the key elements dictated and tasks allocated. Because anyone can quickly sort through the meeting recording and locate this summary, it becomes very efficient for either the professional or a supporting team member to find and re-listen to the critical meeting summary discussion.
If the professional has covered all of the key elements succinctly but in sufficient detail, this also removes the need (in most circumstances) for the professional to carry out any other file noting tasks.
10 | At least monthly (weekly if possible) have someone compare the records of all client meetings held, with the successful processing of their meeting pencast being stored in your CRM for the client.
This is your chance to audit the system and to ensure that the proverbial ball is not being dropped by one or more team members. You should also empower the support team members to let you know if there are problems with the system or with certain client professionals.
Remember, this system relies on people, but it is for the benefit of those people so manage this with care and attention.
11 | Create a system for the measurement and assessment of the performance of your client facing professionals during their meetings. Don’t forget, this is for empowerment purposes rather than for ‘discipline’. Even the very best professionals should have a number of their meetings reviewed at least annually (we suggest making this a random selection), and where there are performance issues or where you have less experienced professionals, this may be carried out far more frequently.
Important note: As the team becomes accustomed to this new process and it assumes the mantle of standard procedure, you can then look to outsource some elements to a Virtual Assistant, therefore creating even more efficiency and streamlining in this area. Talk to us about how to go about this.
Next phase …
