You’ve had a productive meeting with a client. What next?
An organized follow-up process is key to maintaining client relationships and a smoother-running business, says April-Lynn Levitt, a coach with the Personal Coach in Calgary. A good system of follow-up communications and record keeping will help ensure you stay on the right side of your clients and your compliance department.
Follow these tips for an organized and efficient follow-up process to client meetings:
> Start a routine
Organize your clients and set up a routine for connecting with them.
Create a 90-day rotation to call up your “A” clients, says Mark Wardell, president of Wardell Professional Development Inc. in Vancouver. That way you’re reaching out to people on a regular business.
Have a reason for the call so clients don’t feel you’re interrupting their day needlessly, he says. Use a topic from your marketing plan to talk to clients about. For example, if it’s a time when most people go on holidays, talk to them about travel insurance options.
Contact “B” and “C” clients by email or letter to provide information and remind them of their annual reviews.
> Block out time
Schedule time after each appointment to write notes on the meeting. This way, the meeting is still fresh in your mind and you won’t accumulate a list of meetings to document.
Instead of stepping out for a coffee or checking your messages, Levitt says, block 15 to 20 minutes time right after the client meeting to make notes or a dictation. Write out notes in your CRM or for your assistant to expand on later.
> Send a summary
Keep clients on track by sending them a summary of the meeting.
Most advisors assume clients will remember the decisions made in a meeting and why they made that choice, says Levitt. But that’s not necessarily the case.
Create a record by writing a summary of the meeting. Send it to clients within 48 hours — no more than a week — after the discussion.
Says Levitt: “Follow-up letter makes you stand out from your competition.”
> Use CRM software properly
A client relationship management system will make your day a lot easier – but only if you use it correctly.
“The trick is to put complete information into your CRM and use it all the time,” says Wardell.
Many advisors enter client and prospect data in their CRM systems, but they don’t track every email and telephone conversation through the system, and they fail to make complete follow-up notes.
Ensuring that you and your team members track everything in the CRM will keep you up to date with clients and will avoid surprises when they call unexpectedly.
> Write it out
Stay organized by writing down your process for handling clients from start to finish.
List all the steps required to properly handle a client relationship and include timelines. For example, if you specify that you will follow-up each meeting by sending an email within 48 hours, write that into your follow-up system.
“Having it written down first is important,” Levitt says, “because you can set some standards.”
IE