ClientWise research indicates that the two most important factors in determining future client satisfaction are: service quality and satisfying client needs. Moreover, taking a needs-based approach allows financial advisors to better satisfy client needs, thus increasing client satisfaction, retention, and client acquisition.
Increasingly, top-performing wealth management practices are moving away from the static practice model, and towards a model that is more dynamic and fluid. By understanding the needs of their individual clients within this dynamic framework, advisors can determine the most effective practice and service approach. When financial advisors tailor their service approach prior to, or at the start of a relationship, and keep it dynamic and continuous, three good things happen:
Financial advisors who can answer the following six touchpoints affirmatively have taken a bold first step in proactively engaging and onboarding new clients:
1. We have developed a formal and customized checklist for onboarding new clients.
2. Each member of our team understands their role in onboarding new clients and what they are responsible for as it relates to our formal and customized checklist.
3. New prospective clients always know what to expect as they integrate with our practice because we always review the process with them in advance.
4. We are clear in defining and articulating what it is that we do and what distinguishes us from others in financial services to prospective clients.
5. We always interview new clients once they have been fully integrated into our practice about their experiences, what we might have done differently and whether they were fully satisfied with the process.
6. Our team anticipates well when a situation needs to be escalated and the client needs to be informed in advance of difficult news or something not working out as planned.
Mundane? Middling? Mediocre?...or truly extraordinary?
Take a moment to assess if you’re meeting the expectations that you have set for yourself regarding how you integrate new clients into your practice. If you are falling short, the above questions provide a perfect place to energize your onboarding process.