Building strong, lasting relationships with clients is one of the best investments a wealth management firm can make. By focusing on trust and communication, firms set themselves up for long-term success and more referrals.
The numbers speak for themselves — a survey found that 27.3%of clients under 60 switched financial advisors in the last three years, and 29.8% considered making a change. This shows the direct link between strong relationships and client retention, as well as the potential to win new business.
When clients feel valued, they’re more likely to stay and refer others — creating a cycle of growth. Here are four ways wealth managers can enhance their client relationships and boost referrals.
1) Establish Trust
While wealth managers say that 54% of their clients are “mostly” satisfied, improvement should be a continuous goal for advisors who want their clients to stay that way. Indeed, only 28% say their clients are “extremely satisfied.” Where should advisors start when it comes to improving their client relationships? Trust.
Trust is the true currency of any client-advisor relationship. Without it, both advisors and clients will struggle to achieve their objectives. And make no mistake — trust is built by more than just turning out top returns to investors (although that will always remain a top priority).
A recent survey of investors found that their top three concerns about their advisors were:
- Portfolio performance
- Accessibility or availability to me
- Deep understanding of me and my goals
Beyond portfolio performance, investors care deeply about how often their advisor creates time to build a personal relationship with them. Building trust takes time, and there are no shortcuts. Being accessible and demonstrating a clear understanding of your client over time is the best way to build trust that you can bank on in the future.
Not to mention, clients who trust their advisors are great for business. They are over two times as likely to make a referral, and firms with positive client experiences see shareholder returns that exceed other firms by 7.4 times!
2) Communicate Effectively (& Digitally)
One simple way to improve your client-advisor relationship is to communicate with clients through their communication channels. For example, 73% of investors say email is their preferred method of communication, and only 28% of investors meet with their advisors exclusively in person.
Of course, that’s no reason to throw other communication methods out the window, but it is important to understand how to best serve your clients’ needs. Investing in digital resources is a great way to upgrade your client communication and see great returns.
Here are a few ideas to get your firm started:
- Invest in a fast and interactive user interface on desktop and mobile for website/app/customer portals
- Offer personally relevant information via various digital channels such as social media or email
- Provide user-friendly support to pre-answer any client questions
3) Be Proactive & Think Long-Term
Most advisors think of their client relationship as a marathon, not a sprint, but clients might feel differently. Therefore, it’s essential to frame your relationship with every client through the lens of achieving their financial goals over the course of a lifetime.
Indeed, only 54% of wealth managers use client data to personalize interactions. How can you do this? By communicating those expectations clearly and personalizing the client experience proactively.
To succeed in the long run, you need the right data to make informed decisions that benefit your clients over time. A concept gaining traction in the industry to address this is “holistic advising.” Holistic advising involves more than just financial planning; it includes services like tax preparation, estate planning, insurance, and more. As a fiduciary, it’s an advisor’s responsibility to consider these additional services if they can help the client. Often, it’s simply a matter of gathering a few extra pieces of data to provide the full picture.
4) Improve the Client Experience
Finally, improving your advisor-client relationship starts once firms begin to prioritize the client experience across every interaction. From emails to calls, if it isn’t centered on making the client the hero of their financial story, there is a missed opportunity.
Firms are investing in digital client experiences more than ever before, and this trend will only continue as advisors continue to see the benefit of wielding data and technology tools to engage clients.
Here are four ways you can improve the client experience:
- Improve customization by expanding your service offerings to target more specific client needs.
- Adopt digitization to provide better, faster, more personalized service.
- Improve efficiency by updating outdated legacy systems, avoiding silos, and building better workflows through automation and ongoing client and advisor education.
- Wield data to differentiate your firm through personalized and holistic client experiences.
Learn more about how Docupace’s platform can help you automate backend processes so you can spend more time improving your client-advisor relationships.
