There was a time when consumers sought out financial advisors because they were the only ones who had the specialized knowledge and ability to access varied financial instruments to meet clients’ needs. That is no longer the case, as many financial products and services have become commoditized and universally available. In such an environment, advisors need to differentiate themselves from mass providers as well as each other.

For many, that has meant a greater emphasis on building more intense relationships with their clients through a commitment to superior service. Unfortunately, whereas excellent service was once a differentiator, most clients now simply presume they will receive a high level of service. Therefore, the challenge for advisors is balance: how to deliver on the service commitment they have made, considering the high expectations, while maintaining a profitable business.

Know Service: Connect with Cli-ents. Shape Your Future. Dif-ferentiate You! 5 Steps to 5-Star Service for Financial Professionals was written to help advisors achieve that balance. Although the book recognizes that advisors cannot be “all things to all people,” it reminds us that if we are going to call someone a “client,” we have a duty to provide him or her with the service they need.

How we do that in a world of rising costs and shrinking margins is what this book is all about. It begins with a strategic view of client service and steadily narrows the perspective to specific ideas for communicating with clients and managing their expectations. Each of the five steps warrants its own chapter and each chapter concludes with a “tool kit” for implementation of the ideas within it.

Here is the five-step process:

> Step 1: Analyze Your Book Of Business. In other words, segment your client base. Most advisors will admit that aligning level of service with client value intellectually makes sense. Emotionally, however, they often find it difficult to implement and adhere to the strategy consistently.

The book describes a process for both classifying every client, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and differentiating the service each will receive, using your ideal client profile as the benchmark. This exercise, therefore, forces you to define that client profile clearly, which has ramifications for your marketing and sales processes as well. Successful marketing leads to a sale, which sets up a service requirement that presents a new marketing opportunity — and so on.

> Step 2: Allocate. Develop a menu of services to be provided to each client segment. Through your service-level agreement, each client will know what to expect and your team will know what they need to deliver to meet the service commitments you have made.

Some advisors fear that telling clients why they fall into a certain segment could lead to those in other than the top classification feeling they will receive inferior service. The authors’ experience is that clients like to know where they stand and many will ask how they can attain higher status, opening the door to conversations about additional business or greater advocacy for the advisor through introductions and referrals.

> Step 3: Assemble. Identify and gather all the resources you will require to implement your service model. These will obviously include yourself and any team members engaged in client service; but they also extend, for example, to supplier representatives, head office and outside contractors.

Technology — specifically, a good customer relationship management system — should be an important part of the resources used to deliver on your service promise. This step also builds accountability into your process by assigning responsibilities for each aspect of service to the person best qualified by virtue of time and talent.

> Step 4: Activate. The process of segmenting your client base, creating your service menu and gathering the required resources will be wasted unless you actually implement your strategy.

This chapter focuses on the processes you must adopt to ensure that your service plan is launched, maintained and becomes “standard operating procedure” for both current and prospective clients. Specific templates, letters, scripts, and checklists that can be adapted for the unique operation of your practice are provided, removing any excuse for not getting started.

> Step 5: Assess. As with any process, a periodic review to evaluate effectiveness and efficiency is essential for continuous improvement. Client surveys and exit interviews are recommended to gain insight into the client experience; and regular feedback sessions with team members help assess whether the service menu in place remains appropriate and if the service promise is being fully met. An annual restatement of the quantitative and qualitative criteria used to segment your client base and a recalibration of where each client fits keeps the underpinning of your service strategy strong.

@page_break@Know Service is one of those books that you will be tempted to read once, borrow a template or letter, implement an idea or two, then continue with your business as usual. I encourage you, instead, to take its overriding message to heart: service is both an opportunity and a challenge, and when it’s well done, it will definitely contribute to the long-term success of your practice. Performed haphazardly and without specific intention and design, your service will differentiate you — but not in the way you want. IE