Improving your client experience

April 06, 2017 by Derek Semenas

Financial advisors discuss their client experience strategy

About the author

Derek Semenas

Business development representative

Derek began his career at Advicent as a mid-market business development representative after returning from playing professional basketball overseas in Denmark. Derek is passionate about being competitive and developing his career in the financial industry.

In financial services, retail, or nearly any other industry, a core focus should be placed on delivering a superior client experience. This may seem like a no-brainer since many businesses rely heavily on the customer to succeed. But are businesses truly focusing enough on their customer’s experience?

A report by Econsultancy found that only “20 percent of companies have a well-developed customer experience strategy.” This staggering statistic shows a huge opportunity for companies and firms if they are willing to invest their time and money into the customer experience as few are allocating their resources to doing so.

Another statistic to this point that was showcased in the article above stated A Bain & Company survey found that about 80 percent thought they delivered a “superior experience.” From the same pool of companies that were polled, only 8 percent were found to truly deliver “superior experience.” This statistic should hit home, as we tend to believe certain aspects of our business are a lot stronger than they actually are.

This is a common theme among financial advisors, as they assume that they are providing the best experience for their clients until they start losing business to their competitors. Once this happens, they are forced to take a step back and focus on why their clients left for one of their competitors. More often than not, it has to do with the experience that the client receives. Though it may be difficult to know where to start, here are a few tips to help improve your client experience.

Improving your client experience

Client experience should not be entirely streamlined, as it should vary according to each individual client. The biggest issue regarding firms’ client experience is that it requires too much time and too many resources to focus on each client equally, regardless of the client’s net worth. The first step firms should take with each client is to sit down and get to know the client on a personal level so you are able to know what your customer needs and wants, which will connect to their expectations.

One of the biggest ways for advisors and firms to have a successful client experience is to make sure that every engagement with a client or customer is a personalized experience, where you make that person feel as if they are vital to your business moving forward. By doing so, you will build a relationship with the customer that will exceed their expectations and make for a memorable experience for your client. In return, by leaving an impression on your client, he or she will want to share this experience with friends and family, thus leading to more referrals for your business.

To help build a successful client experience at your firm, start by sending emails from a personal email account while personalizing the message specifically to them, instead of sending out general emails en masse. This will go a long way, as they will see that you are treating them with a personal relationship and not treating them as another number in your business, which could open you up to their held away assets.

Another tip would be to send follow up emails and calls to your clients on a monthly bases to check in and see if anything is new with their accounts or goals based on a specific action. Advisors should not be spending their time blasting general emails to all of their client base; they should be sending out relevant specific information to each client based on their goals and aspirations.

Advisors and firms should focus on while trying to create a long-lasting client experience would be get to know each or your clients on a personal level and keep that relationship. Your clients will not only trust you and open up with held away assets, but will refer you to family and friends when you reach out and ensure their experience exceed their highest expectations.

Download our whitepaper to learn more about increasing your value to your clients.