Understanding how to cultivate strong client-advisor relationships is the key to success in the world of financial advising. Having happy clients means well-established, long-term revenue, and word-of-mouth referrals. In order to enable business growth through word-of-mouth, though, you first need to focus on how to nurture your clients in your current client base.
5 Steps to nurture your current client base
- Build trust. Trust is essential in any type of relationship, so why would it be any different for the one between you and your clients? Building trust is a relatively straight-forward process, but it often takes time and persistence. To establish a foundation of trust, it’s best practice to be consistent, meaning timely updates and constant communication. The goal here is to set the foundation for interactions where the client feels comfortable enough to truly open up.
- Personalize interactions. Relationships that feel more personal and less transaction-like are the ones that are going to withstand the test of time. The more comfortable a client feels with you, the more apt they are to truly open up about their goals and expectations. The more you know about their goals and expectations, the easier it is for you to determine the correct course of action for their investments. Talk to them about more than just finances; talk to them about their passions and interests. Open the table for vulnerability and personal connection.
- Show accountability. Your clients want to know that you are acting in their best interest. This means holding yourself accountable for the results, outcomes, and impacts of their allocations and investments. The key to accountability is communication. If you encounter setbacks, update the client immediately, and allow communication to be open and consistent.
- Be transparent. Nobody likes to be left in the dark, especially when it comes to their finances. If you are not transparent about what’s happening with your clients’ portfolios, they’ll likely lose trust in you. Before you know it, your clients will have moved elsewhere, and you’ll have a bad reputation. It does less harm for you to be transparent about everything (even if there are setbacks) than to not effectively communicate what’s going on. As advisors, we know that sometimes things take a dip before they excel, but your clients may not know that. Being transparent allows you to educate your clients on the ins and outs of what’s happening in the market and around the world, rather than merely hoping they catch on.
- Let them be involved. It’s no secret that since the emergence of the digital age, many clients (specifically the younger generations) are expecting easy, digital access to their information – and why shouldn’t they? If you’re being transparent with your clients, then it only makes sense to allow them access to their information. Letting them get involved and be hands-on with real-time results and actions is vital to nurturing trust and building a lasting relationship.
Building stronger and more rewarding client relationships is what’s going to bring your business from good to great. If you haven’t met Benjamin yet, now is the time. We know that managing relationships, along with all your other responsibilities, can be tough, but he’s here to help you nurture your client relationships, but it will also help you become more efficient and eliminate missed opportunities.Interested in finding out more about how Benjamin can help you? Contact us here.
