Do You Exceed Your Own Expectations?

Here’s a resolution we should all keep throughout the year 2020: provide backing to everything we say to our clients. Think about how many empty things you say on a daily basis, like saying that your day is going well. While this is harmless in daily conversations, it can leave a bad taste in the mouths of your clients if they don’t feel your promises are fulfilled.

We’ve found a few ways to make sure you’re using specific language in a way that demonstrates the value of your business:

• Rely on your history. If you have the numbers to back up a claim, this is the best opportunity to use it. Saying that you’re able to save your clients 40% or more speaks much more than simply saying you can save people money.
• Showcase your accomplishments  If you’ve been recognized for your work, your clients want to know about that. It increases your accountability and helps you build trust even before meeting new partners or clients.
• Share past work. Obviously, this piece comes with guidelines. You can’t violate any confidentiality you’ve agreed upon with your clients, but you can share general overviews of people you’ve worked with in the past. It can allow prospective clients to resonate with your work.

By utilizing these tactics, you’re able to really put your money where your mouth is. Not only will you be able to attract new opportunities that are in line with your mission as a business, but you can end each day knowing that the relationships you’re building are genuine.

How Strong is Your Relationship with Your Clients?

Whenever you own a business, there is a highly stressed importance on obtaining clients. You go out and prospect, conduct various marketing events, network and meet as many people as possible. You find people who are interested and you showcase your services to them. If you’re a financial planning firm, you might develop the perfect financial plan for your new customer and send them on their way. However, I think we often forget the importance of maintaining our relationships after the customer has bought our product or service. Whenever you strengthen your relationship with your clients, it increases their loyalty to your services and increases referrals. As a result, this helps and grows the business that you have worked so hard to develop.

Now, I also want to talk about the importance of strengthening relationships between your clients. Whenever your clients feel connected with each other, they will definitely feel more connected to you. How should you go about connecting your clients? I have a few pieces of advice for you!

Firstly, think matchmaker. How could your clients benefit one another? There is a possibility of them becoming business partners, friends, and even golf partners. Approaching this idea could be as easy as saying to your client, “I am planning a fundraising event for a cause that you and another one of my clients, Becky Jones, care strongly about and I think you two should connect regarding ideas!”

Another way to connect your clients is through intimate events that are frequent, preferably every month. The events could range from small dinner parties to golf outings. Also, local events such as running races, yoga events, or wine tastings are a great way to gather your clients. Consistent events will bring your clients together and develop strong relationships.

Have other strategies to grow and strengthen customer relationships? Let us know in the comments below!

Enhancing The Customer Experience Will Lead to More Referrals

Referrals, referrals, referrals. We constantly hear how important they are and how it’s one of the best ways to obtain new clients. But, how exactly do we achieve as many referrals as possible? What can we do to differentiate ourselves to ensure that we’re receiving those referrals? One thing I want to discuss is the importance of providing exceptional customer service. If you switch your focus from trying to obtain referrals from every client you see to focusing on providing the best experience possible, your referrals will come naturally. In fact, just one happy client could result in 9 referrals for your firm. Whenever a client feels that a financial advisor is making a genuine effort to understand the client and provides valuable recommendations, they’re more likely to spread the word about you. Therefore, a positive experience is a must when trying to obtain referrals. With that being said, I’d love to provide some basic tips on ways to enhance the customer experience that will result in more referrals for your firm.

Tip #1 

Don’t forget the little things about your clients. Is today your client’s daughter’s birthday? Send a birthday card! Keeping the little things in mind will make the client feel special and cultivate a healthy, engaged relationship.

Tip #2

Consistency. Don’t tell the client you will follow up constantly and only do it once. If there is a mistake on your part, don’t continue making the same mistake. Consistency is key when working with clients.

Tip #3

Don’t be intimidated to ask. Of course, providing excellent customer service will be the first option for obtaining referrals. However, don’t ever be afraid to ask for it. If you have worked with your client for quite some time now, feel free to mention something like “If you’ve enjoyed my service and you’re happy with the outcome, don’t hesitate to tell a friend.”

At the end of the day, ensuring a positive customer experience will result in more referrals for your firm.

Attracting Your Ideal Client

In today’s world, there are financial advisors left and right. As the businesses grow so will the need for clients. One thing that most financial advisors and planners are constantly curious about is: how do you attract a wealthier clientele? In other words, your ideal client. There’s a lot that goes into attracting prospects. Today, I’d like to focus on the marketing aspect of it and provide you with four tips you can use to find your ideal client.

1. Be the best at what you do. What are you doing differently than other financial advisors? What’s your track record? How are you sharing this with your prospects? In order to attract a wealthier clientele, it’s important for you to become the best at your service so that the client will feel confident with the assets they’re going to trust you with.
2. What’s your story? I know I mention this often in my blogs but I can’t stress enough the importance of having a unique story for you as an individual and your company. You need make sure your story is providing value to the customer. Remember, people will pay for your story.
3. Marketing communication must be 50% emotions 50% logic. Going off my #2 advice, how you communicate the value that you can provide to your clients is important. An example of combining emotions and logic into marketing communication would be: “Through my daily financial practices, I have been able to change people’s lives by helping 5,000 clients.”
4. Ensure you are visible to your ideal clients. I know this seems obvious, but sometimes we get so caught up in our marketing efforts that we forget about our ideal clientele. Attend networking events, whether they’re virtual or live, be a speaker on webinars and events, and write articles and books. All of these ideas will not only make you more visible but will also build your credibility!

Here’s to Remembering Your Customers

Customers want to be remembered. When you recognize a customer, something about them, welcome them back to your website, etc., that will leave a lasting impression with them. Customer retention and new customer acquisitions are some of the most important things to keep your business thriving and relevant.

You might be wondering why remembering your customer, even if it’s the website that recognizes they have visited before, is so important. First of all, it makes the customer feel important. It shows that you are caring about them and the service they receive. Secondly, you’re creating a connection with your customer. If you’re meeting face to face, people like to feel as though they know the people that they are with. And thirdly, whether it is electronically or in person, it makes everything about the experience that much more personal.

So, here is what customers appreciate you knowing or doing:

1. Personalization. Make the experience tailored to the specific customer and they will appreciate it more than you know.
2. Names. If you remember the customer’s name it can make all the difference in the world.
3. Simplifying. Simplify the process for websites, simple loyalty programs, great customer service, etc. The more you do the less the customer has to do and that’s what they want.

Do you have any great tips or stories on customer relations? Share below!

Handling Diversity in the Workplace

Working somewhere with a largely diverse staff is a positive thing. New ideas are brought to the table and different perspectives are offered. Unfortunately, while many positives are associated with diversity, it can also make workplace tensions run high. Diversity is a sensitive topic to many so it can be hard to reach a good balance or sometimes even to have productive conversations.

It’s important to keep in mind that diversity encompasses more than just race or ethnicity. It is religion, socioeconomic statues, gender, sexual orientation, etc. As a manager it’s important to keep this in mind. The definition of diversity is constantly evolving so consider all possible factors.

It’s important to celebrate the diversity of your workplace in order to create an inclusive, welcoming atmosphere. Make all employees aware that it is important to be celebrated, not ridiculed. Oftentimes jokes or possibly unintended prejudiced comments can make people more uncomfortable than an outright insult. Make it clear what language is and is not accepted.

Most importantly, know your staff. Understand their background, their sense of humor, what gets them excited. Ultimately, if you know your employees well everyone will feel more comfortable, thus creating an inclusive environment. As employees it is your responsibility to get to know your peers. Make friends and learn from one another to better improve both yourself and the company.

In what ways do you promote diversity in your workplace?

5 Ways to Standout from the Crowd

Why blend in when you can stand out? To set yourself apart from your competitors, it’s important to advertise your differences and benefits. Your customers won’t know how innovative and successful your business is if you don’t tell them. So don’t be afraid to show it off! Here are 5 ways to standout from the crowd.

1. Become a thought leader. Your industry could use one more thought leader, so make sure it’s you! Publish your content on a blog and create a newsletter to get your name out there. Meaningful and relevant content go a long way.
2. Raise the bar. Do some research and one-up your competition. Make your business the standard in your industry and leave the competition playing catch up. Position yourself as cutting edge.
3. Go above and beyond. Going the extra mile for a client can make all the difference. Show them you care about them as an individual. They’ll take notice and recommend you to their connections.
4.  Focus on the experience. From the first time the client looks at your website or social media sites, to the follow up survey they take after you have done your job, it’s important to make sure the customer is having a good experience. Every time the client comes in contact with your business it affects their overall perception of you. Make sure it’s a good one.
5. Make them look. Be creative with your marketing. Think outside the box when it comes to email newsletters and traditional mailers. Think about what will get their attention and put your business in their head first.

Don’t get lost in the crowd of businesses, standout! Your clients will thank you, your employees will thank you, and your industry will thank you.

 

How do you standout from the crowd?

4 Ways to Improve Customer Loyalty

You put a lot of time and effort in to generating new business for your company. But is there an easier way? Focusing on new clients is important, but not where all your energy should be focused. Some, if not most, of your time should be spent creating loyalty with current customers so they come back next time. It’s much easier to keep a current client coming back than to discover a new one. That being said, here are 4 simple ways to improve customer loyalty.

1. Greetings. Clients remember the first and last interaction they have with a business, so make it count! Greet your customers with a smile and leave them with a good impression of your business. Satisfied customers are more likely to return.
2. Keep in touch. Consistently (but not constantly!) send emails to past customers. Remind them why they chose to do business with you in the first place. Be careful though – sending too many emails with irrelevant content will cause clients to unsubscribe.
3. Rewards. Make it worth their while. Giving clients an incentive to come back and do business with you will encourage returns. Also encourage clients to spread the word and share their positive experience with potential clients. Reward loyalty and it will continue.
4. Listen. Make sure you know how your client feels during their time with you. Fixing a problem before a client lets them know you care. Reward clients for completing a survey about their time with your business to make sure you understand their opinions. See our blog about creating surveys here!

Customer loyalty is a great tool to utilize for your business. With these 4 easy ways to improve, you’ll have clients returning in no time!

 

How do you encourage customer loyalty?

Bring a Friend…or 5!

You appreciate your clients. You even host interesting client events to show your appreciation. This is all well and good, but you can do more. What if your clients brought prospects to your events? Then you could show your current clients you care, while gaining business with their friends and family. Now the question isn’t why, but how. Here are some ways to open up your events to potential clients.

• Invitations are key. When inviting current clients to your event, be excited! If they think the event will be fun, they will be more likely to bring more people. Also specify who (if anyone specific) you want them to bring. If there is no one in particular, invite them to bring someone from work or a golf buddy.
• Ask around. Ask your clients (or survey them! Check out our last few blog posts about surveys!) to see what kind of event they would be interested in. See if they would be willing to bring a friend to the event and where and what the event should be. If your clients feel like their opinions are valued in planning, they will be more likely to come.
• Don’t be afraid to check in! Call your clients back after the initial invitation to confirm their attendance. Make sure you find out if their prospect can make it. If your client needs time to ask their guest if they can come, that’s fine! Just make sure you specify when you will call again to finalize the guest list.
• Be ready. Make sure you’re prepared for the prospects that come to your event! Don’t waste this valuable opportunity to connect. Get business cards or email addresses so you can follow up after the event. This makes you stand out and have a better chance of turning this prospect into a client.

Whether you go golfing, have a picnic, or host a wine tasting, you want your clients to be involved. Make them work for you a little and bring a friend… or 5!

 

How do you get your clients to bring potential prospects to events?

Analyzing Client Surveys

You’ve made a great survey (using tips from our last blog) and have the results from your clients. What now? The next step is reading and analyzing your data to make it useful. A bunch of filled out surveys aren’t going to do you any good if you can’t examine the results and use the information to improve yourself and your organization. Here are some ways to go about analyzing your survey data.

• Start at the beginning. Go back to the original goals of the survey. What did you want to accomplish with this survey? What kind of information did you want to receive? You want to make sure you are focused on the right part of the data.
• Research Questions vs. Survey Questions. Next, you want to organize your data by putting the research question (or your goal) next to the questions that give you informant about that goal. For example, if your research goal was to find out how people rate your office atmosphere, you would put that next to the survey questions “Do you feel comfortable in the office” and “How would you describe the feeling in the office.” This will allow you to target specific questions quickly.
• Trends. Once you have your survey organized, you can start to look for trends in the data. Frequent similar responses can point to a potential flaw in your organization that can be benefitted by change. If many people respond negatively to an aspect of your business, it may be a reason to look into altering that aspect.
• Use it! Now that you have some organized data it’s time to use it! If you find a trend in your data that seems reasonable, make a change! Listening to your customers is the best way to make them happy. When your customers are happy, your business is happy!

Analyzing the data from client surveys can be a great way to find out information about your business. Client surveys can tell you problems your clients have with your business. They can also tell you what clients like about your business and want you to continue doing. Analyzing this data can be extremely beneficial for your organization, so make sure you don’t let it go to waste!

How do you analyze your client survey data?