Contrasting your Level of Service
Right now, more than ever, the manner in which we deliver service matters.
We were on a call with a new Financial Advisor recently. She told us this story: She had contacted a very attractive prospective client, a high net-worth individual with a portfolio of several million dollars.
The prospective client explained that he already had an advisor, and was in fact just expecting a financial report from him. However, he agreed to chat again later, to get a second opinion on the financial report. A month later, the new advisor called the prospective client back, asking whether he had gotten his report. The surprising answer was no. As it turned out, not only had the report not yet materialized, the current advisor hadn’t even returned his client’s phone-calls.
Needless to say, the client was extremely upset to be left out in the cold during these very volatile times, and was more than ready to listen to another advisor. They set up an initial meeting. A new relationship was formed, papers were signed, and money transferred. This of course was a very happy ending for one advisor, on the other hand, not such a happy ending for the one whose client walked away. We can’t help but wonder if he learned the lesson, and has upgraded his level of attention to existing clients?
We are telling this story because it really highlights the opportunities that are out there right now: The opportunity to give our clients the service they deserve, and in doing so, contrasting ourselves favorably against other advisors that aren’t doing what they can to keep their clients. This concept is based on the contrast principle, which states that when we make decisions, we tend to do it by contrasting between the decision item and reference items.
Serving our existing clients has to be our number one priority.
By Duncan MacPherson with Ingrid Takai