7 minute read
THE LOST ART OF COMMUNICATION
Communicating effectively with clients and peers is an essential component for successful financial planning firms. But are you using it to best effect? Tracey Underwood of PACE Solutions looks at how and why giving extra thought to the way you communicate can bring powerful benefits for your client relationships and business success
Over the past few decades, the nature of the financial advice service provided for clients has changed significantly – and for the better in my view. Historically, the role of a financial adviser would often be about seeing as many clients as possible, selling them a product and then never seeing them again. That’s not a particularly compelling business model.
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So, let’s fast forward to today’s world of professional financial planning service and let’s be grateful for the many changes and developments which have taken place over the years.
Nowadays, professional financial planning is all about delivering a high quality, client- centric service. It is designed to ensure that the client’s financial affairs are appropriately organised so they are on track to meet their goals and objectives. This means a lifelong commitment between client and adviser and, as such, requires a high quality service proposition to back it up. Effective communication is central to all of this.
BACK TO BASICS
An important part of the work I often do with financial planning firms is to ensure that their team is properly trained on how to communicate effectively with clients and potential clients and in a way which is in line with the company brand. Teaching communication skills may sound like a back to school approach but can anyone ever recall how they were taught to answer the phone, write an email or construct a report?
I often find that there is a reluctance to pick up the phone and actually call the client. Email tends to be the preferred communication method; it avoids potentially awkward conversations and pressurised moments. However, have we ever thought about how receiving an email may be perceived by a client? What do you lose in the simple decision to email rather than call a client? A colleague I once worked with always wrote his emails WITH HIS CAPS LOCK ON. It always seemed to me that he was shouting or annoyed, however the opposite was true, he was just unaware that this was how it was perceived.
For the support team, most outgoing correspondence can be templated so that it conforms appropriately into the house style. But does your team know what the house style is? Have you thought about it? Do you care?
How you correspond with a client directly affects that clients’ perception of quality and the attention to detail you are giving to their situation. If you can’t get your communications right, what confidence does the client
have with you managing their money? Everything you say or do has to feel right and hit the right note. Get it wrong, and client trust and relationship-building suffers.
It is very important that you ensure your report templates are all set to the same high standard and that checks and controls are in place. Instances where the start of a client’s report is in one font and then changes to another partway through or, even worse, the report is addressed to Helen but finishes with a thanks to Sarah – an example of cutting and pasting at its worst – are to be avoided at all costs.
One of the bad communication examples I have seen was from a firm that previously dealt with my own investments (note I say previously). The firm sold their client base to another IFA and I received a ‘welcome’ letter from said new IFA. What the letter said to me was that they didn’t really care about my business. Why? For starters, my name was spelt incorrectly. There were also several typos in the letter and it was printed on what I could only describe as close to low brand toilet paper. Maybe it was intentional, they didn’t want my business and their quality clients received quality paper? My instincts tell me that wasn’t the case. What it did tell me was that this was not the firm that I wanted to work with thereafter. They simply didn’t meet the right standards.
SO WHAT DOES GOOD LOOK LIKE?
When engaging with a client we know that the financial planning and advice process from letters of authority to business being transacted can take several weeks. And that’s just the start of things.
To build a sound, long term working relationship with the client, it really helps to ensure that you assign a paraplanner and administrator to the client as soon as practicably possible. Throughout the process they can check in on progress, letting the client know what information has been received, expectations of other information and so on. This impresses the client, giving them reassurance that the firm is on the case and that their affairs are in the good hands of a team who really understand them and their needs. They are not left wondering what is happening and therefore having doubts about whether they have selected the right firm to work with.
GETTING IT RIGHT
Your first line of communication is generally through front of house or the administration team. Getting this right is essential and should not be left to chance. All team members should be properly trained on answering the phone positively and in the ‘house’ style. It makes a huge difference. Just think about your own experiences of good and bad when it comes to customer service. It’s not difficult to do but you do have to put in the time and effort to get it spot on.
The attitude of the person making the call is also important. If the team member is happy this will be reflected in their voice. Bored, disinterested employees are an immediate put off for clients. You’ve worked hard to get this far, it would be a mistake to undermine all that good work because you haven’t got the simple things right.
For example, one simple step you can take is to ensure that there should be a company standard for number of rings before your phone is answered. Aim for 3 rings, no one likes to be left holding on. Make sure this is reinforced with the team buying into its importance and focusing on achieving it as a priority.
Text messaging is now being used for communicating with clients. If a client can’t be reached by phone then a simple text message perhaps reminding them to return a form for example, would be sufficient.
Train your team to take ownership of the call and all communication. We can all recall a time where a message has been put through to us in the office, only for us to find out the administration team could have dealt with the enquiry very easily indeed. By taking ownership of the call initially, the situation can be handled quickly and easily by the person in the team best suited to deal with it there and then. That will impress the client as well as be more efficient for your business.
CLOSER TO HOME
Finally, don’t forget that our customers extend to members of our own team too. So, think about what you do and how you communicate and engage with your team members. Don’t deluge them with emails about spare bottles of milk in the fridge, the post arriving etc. Issues such as this can be dealt with by way of a simple conversation. You can pick up far more from talking to people than you can from sending them an email.
Building a strong working relationship within the team relies on having strong lines of communication in place. As an old advert used to say “It’s good to talk”. I couldn’t agree more.
About Tracey Underwood Tracey is the owner and founder of PACE Solutions. The business provides support for financial planning firms by focusing on operational practices including; recruitment, compliance, processes, client proposition and business strategy. This is achieved not only through a consultancy process but by hands on implementation to ensure that firms achieve effective results that would otherwise not be achieved through consultation only.
