As discussed in yesterday’s column, bulking up your practice often means working harder to retain your best clients. That’s partly because your best clients can help drive future growth, through referrals and their continuous wealth generation.
Upping your game with these key clients also helps fend off the competition. “Most clients are probably being prospected by other advisors,” says Rosemary Smyth, the Victoria-based owner of Rosemary Smyth and Associates, “depending on the area that you’re in and how much money they have.”
So, after doing an analysis of your practice and deciding which clients you want to focus on (covered yesterday), it’s time to put specific practices in place to ensure their loyalty.
Smyth recommends taking the following steps:
1. Determine client service levels
Decide what your top, middle and bottom-tier clients will receive from you in terms of service. Smyth says there are three basic categories to consider.
The first one is communications. Decide which type of communication each tier will receive and how frequently you will be in touch. Perhaps your top tier will receive your quarterly newsletter and phone calls. However, you would rather spend less money and time on your bottom tier, so they will receive email updates.
The next category deals with meetings and reviews. How often will you meet in person with your top tier as opposed to your middle and bottom tiers?
The third level of service is client appreciation. What will you do for your top tier to make them feel like a valuable part of your practice? Some ideas include lunches, seminars and tickets to local events.
Consider how you will incorporate your centres of influence (COI) into your service levels. One way to heighten engagement with your top clients is to personally introduce them to a COI whose services they require. A middle tier client may just receive the business card of a COI.
2. Use your client relationship management system
Make sure dates that are important for key clients are well flagged in your client relationship management system. These are the dates when you are expected to call these clients, send out invitations for events, etc.
Consistency is also important. When clients are used to attending your annual holiday party and then are not invited one year, they will wonder what happened, says Smyth.
Also, make a note of your clients’ preferences in receiving notifications. If one of your top clients does not want phone contact and would rather get emails, calling him will probably inspire annoyance as opposed to appreciation.
3. Decide which services to add
Decide how you can push your business to the next level. This will involve adding services your clients are interested in but which you do not currently have. Ask yourself how you will find the resources to support those services. Are you adding team members or studying for an extra designation? As an alternative, you may want to consider adding certain professionals to your COI group.
For example, if you find most of your top clients are asking for advice on selling their vacation homes, you may organize a seminar and invite a real estate lawyer to speak and answer questions.
This is the second in a two-part series on client engagement.