The career of a financial advisor is one that must stand the test of time. Markets change and financial trends are constantly evolving. What remains is the importance of a financial advisor’s role in helping people manage their money. Good financial advisors get Christmas cards every year from clients they’ve helped grow their net worth, hit financial milestones, or avoid calamity. There’s a measure of freedom that people get when they learn how to take care of money, because it is something that is a constant source of stress and worry for many people. If you work as a financial advisor, you must always be improving the way that you do business so you can reach your clients in a meaningful way. But how can financial advisors improve client satisfaction?
We’re glad you asked. Below are some of the tips that you can use to expand your career and satisfy your customers.
How Can Financial Advisors Improve Client Satisfaction?
With that said, it’s important to stick to some commitments that can pay huge dividends when it comes to the way you deal with clients. Here are some stepping stones you can take that will immediately make a difference:
1. Reach Out Informally and Build a Relationship Organically
The way that you communicate with your clients and potential clients is worth its weight in gold.
The problem that most financial advisors run into is that they only reach out when they have a service to sell. This puts clients and potential clients on edge, even if what you are offering will revolutionize their lives.
People naturally have an aversion to being sold to, particularly in the form of cold communication. And really, who can blame your clients?
We live in a time where people are advertised to from the time they get up to the time they go back to bed. Because of this, you need to start communicating with your clients in a way that is organic and with a long-term relationship in mind.
Reach out just because, and with authenticity. Get to know your clients as human beings and not just for the opportunity to sell to them.
Things like remembering their children’s names or something they told you about their spouse will resonate. When you reach out when you don’t need anything, clients are more likely to listen to you when you do.
2. Become an Active Listener
With that said, the biggest part of communication is one that people in all industries overlook—listening!
Constantly work on becoming an active listener so that you can take better care of your clients.
This means paying attention not just to what they say, but the emotional resonance of the conversation. People will feel heard when you maintain eye contact and are mindful of your body language.
Rather than only listening enough to wait for them to finish talking so that you can talk again, take a deep breath, live in the moment, and find the value in every part of the conversation.
3. Avidly Learn About Their Financial Goals
You have to teach your clients how to set goals if they’re going to have financial success.
So many financial advisors immediately jump in and set goals for their clients, rather than teaching them how to set their own.
When you can shape someone’s mind to set their own goals, the growth that they experience is monumental. They will recognize how huge the shift was, because they weren’t even thinking on this wavelength until you helped them.
Some examples of financial goals that you might help them with include saving for their kids’ college, building a stock portfolio, buying their first investment property, or eliminating debt. When you know on the front end about your clients’ lifestyle and the way that they think, these sorts of pieces will begin to fall into play.
4. Develop an Active Presence on Social Media
Take to social media and develop an active and engaging presence.
It’s easier to reach your clients when you’re on the same platforms they congregate.
Right now, just about everyone is on some form of social media. The benefit is that they get to take in your social media presence on their own time and with no pressure.
Clients can stay up-to-date with everything that you have going on and can digest your message at their own pace without worrying about needing to reciprocate.
Before you know it, they are avidly following everything that you post. This is when people begin book consultations and taking advantage of the services that you provide.
This form of marketing is passive, so your customers defenses are low and they are more receptive to your message.
5. Be Transparent About the Way You Do Business
Stay honest and upfront with your clients every single step of the way. Let them know how you do business, why you want their business, and how you get paid. The last thing you would want is to oversell virtue to your client, only explaining your fees at the very end.
While it is Sales 101 to not always break down every single detail until you have sold them on your service, you also don’t want to shoehorn clients into the money talk after selling yourself as though you were helping them out of the kindness of your heart.
Stay transparent about your fees and the fact that you want to do long-term business with the client.
Your customers will respect your honesty, and this makes it easier for them to trust everything else that you are saying. When they trust your word, your customers will also trust the financial advice that you offer, making this a win-win.
6. Have a Niche and Lean Into It
So many financial advisors also try to do everything. You can’t serve too many masters, so you are better off carving out a niche and sticking to it. This doesn’t mean that you need to limit yourself, but your customers will have less confusion when you are upfront about your area of interest.
Perhaps the stock market is your forte. If so, you might lean heavily into teaching clients the basics and how to time their investments in their favor.
Other financial advisors might specialize in helping people get out of debt or purchase their first homes. Money is a necessity of life, so don’t underestimate the personal impact that you are having on each client. Knowing your niche is knowing yourself, and the more you know yourself, the better you can serve your customers.
If you’re trying to spread your net too widely, you run the risk of stretching yourself too thin. What this does is water down the service you offer, to the point that you don’t even know your true strengths and weaknesses.
7. Work With Them in a Way They’re Comfortable With
It is also important for you to develop enough of a rapport with your clients to understand how they like to work. You are well within your right to have boundaries and protocols as a professional, but don’t be so rigid that you can’t meet your clients halfway.
For instance, if you are a phone person but some of your clients are texters, you can gain major points by communicating with them how they would like.
It is actually these little quirks and nuances that have long been foundational to the way business is done. These little attributes matter even more right now, in an age where most communication is digital, and more people are working remotely.
By establishing this comfort level with your clients, they are more likely to do business with you long-term and stay loyal.
Regularly hold information sessions that are informal and invite all of your clients. This can act as an open house and a means for your clients to network with one another while also learning more about what you offer.
This could be a time that you can teach different changes that are happening in the financial sector right now, while also introducing them to new products and services on the horizon.
Improve Your Financial Advisor Career By Leaps and Bounds
The next time you ask yourself, “How can financial advisors improve client satisfaction?”, the tips above are an excellent place to start. Your career in the field will be fruitful when you’re always willing to learn and grow.
We would be happy to assist you with this process. Be sure to contact us online or at (303)808-8719 for a free business evaluation.
