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We all know how difficult it is to find new clients. After all, we’re asking them to trust us to be good stewards of their life savings and guide them through some of the biggest events in their lives. And while it’d be nice to know that the clients we land will stick with us for life, that’s not always the case. The numbers are hard to measure, but at least one study by E*TRADE suggested that 20% of clients who leave their advisor do so in the first year, and 25% leave within two years.
To keep your clients, do more than just your job – you need to keep them engaged. There’s a place for old-school engagement techniques like birthday cards and regular client meetings, but we can do better.
It’s time to try something new.
Personalized communication
If you look at surveys of clients who leave or aren’t satisfied with their advisors, one thing jumps out: communication. Clients often stray when their advisors don’t communicate often enough, clearly enough, or use the clients’ preferred channels. If a lack of communication is a big source of discontent, it stands to reason that the opposite is true – better communication means more engaged, satisfied clients. A report by McKinsey on high-net-worth clients supported this idea: According to its data, clients reported an ~25% increase in satisfaction when their advisors interacted with them weekly instead of quarterly.
Most clients won’t need or want weekly updates on their portfolios. So why would clients be so much more satisfied with advisors who reached out every week? This is an incredibly competitive profession, and our success depends on our brands and personalities as much as our performance. You don’t have to be friends with your clients, but it doesn’t hurt to approach your client-engagement strategy similarly to the way you’d approach a friendship. The more you put in, the more you get out.
Alternative angles
Take time every week to send something fun or interesting to your clients. Don’t try to sell them anything; just remind them that you’re around and that you care about their passions and wellbeing as well as their financial success. Be more than just a person your clients see and hear from on rare occasions. People have a preference for those with whom they are more familiar. Familiarity is built through repeated interactions and proximity – the less distance your clients feel between you, the more comfortable they’ll be with you.
Extracurricular activities
Quarterly or biannual client meetings are great, but they aren’t going to make you stand out or make your clients feel especially appreciated. To strengthen your relationship with your clients and keep them engaged, you need something more out of the box… and the office.
Client events are one of the more potent tools in the client engagement toolkit – as long as you do them right. The goal should be to make your clients feel appreciated, show them a good time, and possibly provide some relevant education. If you do it right, your clients will walk away feeling excited about having you as their advisor and maybe even spread the word to their friends and family.
To take an individual client and their family out, consider doing the same thing you’d do with your friends (as long as you’re sure they’d like it). You could take them out for dinner, invite them to watch a sporting event, or play a round of golf with them. If your clients are comfortable with it, you could hold bigger events like:
- Wine tastings
- Parties for holidays or special events
- Fundraisers or volunteering events for charities you or your clients support
Finally, if you know that your clients would like to learn more about a topic related to their financial situations, organize workshops with professional instructors and guest speakers. For instance:
- Educational luncheons covering investing, economic trends, etc.
- Estate planning workshops
- Seminars with guest speakers to talk about age-related concerns for retirees
While event planning can be a time-intensive process, you can lean on your team for help and know that your clients will be left feeling seen, appreciated, and more comfortable with you than before.
Staying engaged
Clients who don’t feel appreciated or engaged are clients who we risk losing. Part of our job is checking in, seeing how they’re doing, and making ourselves available to talk on their schedule, not ours. We don’t have to be their best friends, but we need to make sure they know that we care about more than just their money. It won’t take much; a few messages here, a dinner or a wine tasting there, and the occasional workshop can go a long way.
We appreciate our clients – we just need to make sure we show it.
Matt Reiner is a CFA, CFP®, and partner at Capital Investment Advisors, a $2.8+ billion RIA in Atlanta. Reiner is also CEO of Wela Strategies, a sister company to Capital Investment Advisors, and is the founder and CEO of Benjamin™. Benjamin is an AI technology created by Reiner after seeing the gaps in technology used in his own firm. Reiner's true passion is using his vast experience to coach other advisors across the country, helping them evaluate their firms' practices and find the best strategies for future success. To reach Matt Reiner, visit www.MattReiner.com.
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