Turning Compliant Clients Into Top Referral Advocates

Taking Notes

The next step: We keep copious notes for our files. When I was on the CFP Board of Ethics, I noticed advisors getting away with activity that would shock most readers. The reason? With all their failings (and bad motives) these advisors had a great paper file that could be relied on in court to defend their actions.

Although I have been in hundreds of advisors’ offices, I have never seen a firm that takes the level of notes we do.

After every meeting that I attend, I dictate notes that are saved in our contact management system. I especially cover areas where there is potential confusion or might be a future concern. For instance, when we are discussing life insurance, I make sure the client understands how the product works and the expenses. I will dictate everything I disclosed to them including what is guaranteed and what is not.

When talking about expected performance, I tell them that if our bogey is 7%, in a 10-year period there are likely going to be three years where we will be above that, three years, where we will below it and four years where we will be close. This way it is difficult for a client to come back later and say “you didn’t explain the fees” or “you didn’t explain there could be negative returns.” If they do, I can pull out the notes from the meeting to remind them of our conversations.

In addition to the dictated notes, I also write handwritten notes on my paper copy of the agenda. So if we are discussing investment philosophy, I will put a check by the box that says “discuss investment philosophy” and then handwrite in how they want their portfolio allocated.

If one of my ace client service managers is sitting in on a meeting with me, they will also prepare notes for the file. This sometimes means three sets.

If I am talking to a client on the phone, I will frequently open up our CRM system, put on my headphones and take notes right in the contact management software. This saves time—fortunately I can type and listen at the same time!

Another area, often overlooked, is taking notes on service requests. Let’s say we have to call the service desk at our custodian. My team knows it is important to log in the CRM: who on our team made the outgoing call, date and time. Then here is the most important part: the name of the person on the other end of the line and exactly what they advised. We put the service person’s comments in quotes to denote it is a verbatim report of what they told us. This has saved us more than once when we get differing responses from the service center.

Email Responsiveness

Finally: We get back to clients via email. After each meeting, we email the client and include these items as a general rule: homework assignments and due dates; the status report of anything we are working on; a full copy of their financial plan if it has been updated or discussed in the meeting; an updated copy of the one page financial plan summary, with any of the client’s notes or mine on it; performance reports.

Clients really appreciate this follow-up. Without it, because we cover so many items in a meeting, they could get confused.

I know our system is working because I got an email today from one of our beloved angel advocates. She had been talking us up to about a dozen of her colleagues and wanted to know if she could give them my contact information. Needless to say, I would be delighted.