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January 29, 2013 at 02:16 PM
Let’s be honest: Most advisors don’t often talk to their clients, unless it’s time to renew something, or up-sell something or be referred to someone for something.
It’s no wonder the number one reason clients jump from one advisor to another is because they don’t hear from their advisor enough. Your clients are looking for something, too! Yes, even the clients in your “C” drawer. Clients want to know that their advisors are looking out for their best interests and keeping them informed about what’s going on and what should be going on. This is especially true when the Dow and Nasdaq are doing crazy things, and political parties are rocking the economic boat. Yes, your clients (and even your prospects) need to hear from you now more than ever.
Maybe you’re afraid you might scare your clients, or that you’ll appear too needy and overbearing. If you’re coming from a place of service, integrity, rapport and mutual benefit, you have nothing to fear. And if you lose a client despite this, believe me, it’s a good thing.
By not having a process for reaching out to your clients regularly, you leave opportunity on the table every day. I mean every day. What types of opportunity? The opportunity to retain clients (out of sight is out of mind). The opportunity to do more business. The opportunity to generate more referrals. The opportunity to answer more questions. The opportunity to present more solutions. The opportunity to build more rapport. The opportunity to learn more. The opportunity to teach more. The opportunity to get to know your clients better and help them in ways beyond the scope of a financial advisor. The opportunity to make a friend. The opportunity to have more fun. That’s a lot of opportunity, yes?
So the question is how do you reach out to your clients? Here are five suggestions you can implement immediately that should handle most scenarios.
1. Reconnect with a client after a long period of time. “Hello Paul! It’s Michael. I hope all is well! It’s been way too long since we’ve spoken. Listen, I have to apologize for not doing a better job staying in touch. I’m making a concerted effort to get to know my clients better and stay in closer touch. I always thought you were a nice guy and it would be great to get together over the next couple of weeks and catch up. It would be a good OPPORTUNITY to get to know each other better and see how we might help one another.”
2. Update a client on the market or product changes. “Hello Paul! It’s Michael. I hope all is well! I was just working on an account for another client and her situation reminded me of you. I would love to get together and discuss your long-term care coverage and some other ideas that might be very beneficial to you and your family. It may even save you a few bucks. It would also give us the OPPORTUNITY to catch up!”
3. Reconnect for business referral reasons. “Hello Paul! It’s Michael. I hope all is well! What does your next couple of weeks look like? Well, I have an idea. I know that we can be tremendous resources for each another. I would love to get together as two business owners and explore how we might refer business to one another. The OPPORTUNITIES might be endless! How does that sound?” (If your client is not in business, simply explore how you might help one another as it relates to work or career.)
4. For the fun of it. “Hello Paul! It’s Michael. I hope all is well! How would you like to grab a Mets game before the season is completely out of reach? It would give us an OPPORTUNITY to blow off some steam while getting to know each other better.” (This could also be dinner, breakfast, golf, whatever.)
