How financial advisors can improve client engagement

Reviews and ongoing servicing have long ranked as the worst-performing area for client satisfaction in financial advice. It's safe to say the industry has work to do when it comes to engaging clients.

The media coverage on the back of the Royal Commission profiled isolated cases of advisors who don't really care about engaging with clients and try to compensate by lowering costs. We've entered a brave new world. Client needs are changing, and value, trust and transparency are the most important factors financial planners need to address to improve client engagement.

But in today's world — where a client has information in the palm of their hand and is being influenced by the likes of Google and Facebook — information alone isn't enough to keep them coming back. Advisors must engage with clients in a meaningful way, and this begins by understanding what our clients want and need from us.

It's not them, it's you

To see client uplift, a savvy financial advisor will realise their clients are no longer comparing their services to other financial planners or the banks. Instead, what they're seeing is their client's willingness to integrate technology and apps into their day-to-day lives.

This is great news for the financial advice industry. If clients are keen to use technology, don't you owe it to them — and yourselves — to deep-dive into your processes and see where you can evolve?

By adopting digital tools like AdvisorForms, financial planners can see an increase in client engagement, increased revenue and improved productivity within their teams.

Improving client engagement is not just about what you know

As an advisor, you've likely spent long hours honing your technical skills. However, working in an industry that's been surrounded by negative commentary in recent years, building trust and clearly articulating your value has become increasingly important.

The relationship you have with your clients — new and existing — must be cultivated, developed and nurtured. As with any relationship, your clients want to know that you, as their advisor, care about them and listen to them. They need to know they're more than just a number.

Beyond capturing financial information and using your CRM tools, pay attention to personal details such as:

• Birthdays and anniversaries
• Children's names
• Hobbies and interests
• Their favourite coffee (and have it waiting when they visit)

If you take such care to note and remember these intimate details, your clients will almost unconsciously understand the service they receive from you is tailored just for them.

A loyal and happy client is one of your business's most valuable assets. Not only will an engaged client provide ongoing business, they'll also be your mobile marketing team, generating new referrals.

A missed client engagement opportunity from the start

The advice space is competitive. People will leave an advisor if they're not satisfied with the service they're receiving. Winning new business and retaining existing clients is often down to the client's personal experience, not just the advisor's business knowledge.

The first face-to-face meeting with a new client is vital. It sets the foundations on which to build rapport and trust. But what if you could build this rapport even before the client walked into your office? Sending a form pre-meeting that captures basic data — names, addresses, birth dates and the like — means more time can be spent discussing opportunities and options when you finally meet.

Often, a client won't have the relevant forms or supporting documents in your first meeting. Or with multiple documents to view and sign, it's not uncommon for a signature box to be missed. All this admin steals valuable time from your core work, leaving little space for meaningful, focused conversation.

Inexperienced planners are often tempted to open with their own background and expertise. In reality, clients don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Turn your first meeting on its head and change the conversation from "I want to win the client" to "how can I better understand the client?".

Client engagement uplift starts at the very first meeting

When a client first comes to you for advice, they want to see how easy the process is and how easy it is to deal with you. Because they're paying for these services, they want as much time as possible getting value from you. And that value comes not from filling in paperwork, but from advice.

Consider using technology to set up visual representations of how clients are tracking towards their goals. Charts and graphs help your clients feel engaged and reassure them you genuinely care about their financial future.

Getting to know you… before I get to know you

If an advisor spends most of an initial meeting looking down, asking questions and filling in forms, the engagement just isn't going to be there.

Sending a form to a client pre-meeting and collecting much of the basic data in advance means more time can be spent discussing opportunities or options. The actual first meeting becomes a real conversation, with the client feeling fully valued and getting their money's worth.

Having all this information in advance also means you:

• Are well prepared, impressing the client from the moment they walk in
• Can begin asking meaningful questions, tailored specifically for them
• Can focus your conversation on the future because you already know their past

While this might sound like a small change, the impact on your business can be profound.

Let's get personal

Personalising your interactions deepens the connection and lets trust build much faster. Go past the obvious assets, liabilities and income, and seek to discover:

• What motivates and drives them?
• What excites them?
• What's important to them?
• What are their fears for their financial future?
• What kind of lifestyle aspirations do they have?

These questions show your client that you really care, and start building a solid relationship from day one.

And what of your existing clients? When was the last time you asked them about their hopes, dreams or financial aspirations? People's goals change over time. If you can build automated processes that revisit these questions on a regular basis, you'll often discover their needs are evolving — opening the door to additional products and services that naturally align with the client.

It's far more effective to retain an existing client than to attract a new one.

Client engagement is improved by utilising technology

Today's clients are keen to integrate technology into their day-to-day lives. Once a client has made initial contact and you've entered the fact-finding stage, this entire process can be streamlined with technology.

Far from diminishing rapport, the right tools enhance it. By moving fact-finding online with up-to-date data, you get an accurate picture of a client's current financial situation while freeing up your face-to-face time for advice. Gone are the days of three or four hours on paper forms and printed statements.

You should also keep in touch with clients between appointments — placing them in a marketing flow where the content you send is relevant to their life stage or product mix. If rules and regulations are changing, are you sharing this with your clients and showing them you're a thought leader?

Financial advisors need to do what algorithms can't

The construction and constant monitoring of a client's portfolio can now be done online with little human intervention. Competing against such powerful data analytics simply isn't practical anymore.

As planners, you need to do what the algorithms can't — have deep and powerful conversations with your clients. After all, all the data in the world won't tell you that a client's goal is to retire at 70 and live in Paris for a year to write a novel. It's human conversations that surface those things.

Don't forget to check in regularly. Life-changing events are strong motivators to re-evaluate finances. By keeping your records up to date and checking in often, you give yourself every opportunity to be there at the moment your client needs advice.

Why the perfect financial plan isn't enough

Creating the ideal financial plan is wasted if you can't bring the client along on the journey. Excellent communication skills are vital for a planner to develop trust. Even the best technical advice won't fly if the client is uncomfortable and doesn't feel engaged in the process.

Many advisers also find themselves working with clients they've inherited from other advisers. The quality of the file notes and documentation kept by the previous advisor matters enormously here — and so does your ability to quickly establish your own personal relationship.

Improved client engagement helps retention

When the focus of a client meeting moves away from administration and onto the client's goals, both the advisor and the firm appear more professional and engaged. Technology not only helps both parties prepare better — it means there's more time to focus on the client themselves. That's great news for retention and engagement.

Industry research consistently shows there are danger periods in the client relationship: engagement levels often dip after year three before rising again towards the 10-year mark. Regular contact is the key to retaining clients through those in-between years.

Great client engagement is good for business

Process matters, of course — but engagement and the human connections you make with clients are key to a great financial planning experience. The engagement uplift you can achieve, combined with the clever use of technology now available, isn't to be underestimated.

Skilful use of technology in your business can deliver compliance, increase engagement and create plenty of productivity efficiencies — and your business will start to reap the rewards of higher conversion rates with prospects, greater retention of existing clients, and higher profitability and margins.

We can help make your day-to-day work life easier, giving you the tools to focus less on paperwork and more on building real client connections. Get in touch to see how Umlaut can help.