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Building Advocacy

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The Key to Finding More Clients Who Look Like Your Ultimate Clients

An advocate is a person or group of people who have an almost inexplicable desire to see you and your practice succeed; they are promoters, campaigners, and supporters of your business.  In addition to clients, advocates can be personal acquaintances, family members, prospects and other professionals.

Think about your practice.  Do you know someone(s) who goes out of their way to give you referrals or introduce you to new people?

They are your advocates.

Most of us would benefit from building greater advocacy in our businesses.  When you know the steps, it’s a simple, quick and efficient strategy for taking your practice to a new level of success.  You could completely eliminate all of the other marketing and prospecting you’re doing (and save a bunch of time and money).

Highly qualified referrals

Obviously, one of the biggest benefits to regularly promoting advocacy in your practice is an increase in referrals.  In addition to increased referrals, you tend to strengthen the loyalty of your existing clients.  Your best clients really enjoy offering their advice – they realize that your success is intertwined.

Advocacy is a two-way street.

Plus, advisors who promote advocacy are more professional.  Properly implemented advocacy techniques lead to references that are more qualified and ready to do business.  Building recurring advocacy is truly a unique strategy for finding new clients who look like your ideal clients.

Here is a quick list of the steps:

Step 1:  Create a simple list of your possible advocates.  Start with your clients and add other people you believe would be good sources of referrals, like prospects, professionals or personal acquaintances.

Step 2:  Refine your understanding of the uniqueness and commonalities of those people you have identified as potential sources of advocacy. Your goal is to develop resources for lists of potential referrals.  Ask yourself a few questions:  To which civic or social groups do your advocates belong?  How about companies or industry groups?  Are they on boards of charities or local corporations?  Simply record several of these characteristics for each potential advocate on your list.

Step 3:  Use your research to create a list of promising referrals for each advocate you intend to call or meet.  This will mean spending time surfing the internet, reviewing telephone books or researching club directories and annual reports.  The more time you spend, the more successful you will be.  Creativity is a must.

Step 4:  Get together with your advocates and leverage your knowledge; this means talking with each one about the importance of advocacy and the work you have done in anticipation of your call or meeting.  Go through your referral list one at a time and ask for feedback.  For each reference you secure request permission to use your advocates name when you make your initial contact.

Step 5:  Finally, meet with your references.  Set the stage by reviewing your unique value proposition (UVP) and your approach to advocacy.  Your referrals need to understand your approach to both managing (UVP) and growing (advocacy) your business.  You will stand out from the crowd as a true professional.

Success story…

A few years ago, one of our members decided on a 90-day referral gathering cycle using our advocacy approach.  He did all of his research during the first 30 days (Steps 1, 2 and 3), held client meetings during the next 30 days (step 4) and spent the final month meeting with his referrals (step 5).

Over the first complete cycle, the advisor was able to increase his assets under management from $50 million to $75 million, a 50% increase, just by applying our advocacy process to his practice.  During the next quarter he added another $25,000,000 in assets.  And though the pace slowed down in subsequent quarters, this advisor continued to rely on advocacy as his only strategy for marketing and prospecting.

If you’re trying to add more ideal clients to your practice, give our advocacy approach a try.   It’s a proven process for growing your business.

How to Use Email to have an Ongoing “Conversation” with your Clients

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I recently took an internet and email marketing course in search of ideas for converting more of my website visitors to members. Even though I’ve been using the internet as a tool to build my business for more than 7 years, I don’t always feel like I’m solidly connecting with my advisor prospects. Like you, I understand the value of my work, but this value doesn’t necessarily translate into a steady flow of new business.

You may have noticed some changes I’ve recently made in the emails I send you. These adjustments are a direct result of the course I took.

For example, I’m sending fewer emails to keep from overloading your inbox. After all, you can always check my website for the latest postings or search the Member Library when you’re looking for a specific idea. And when you do get an email from me, you’re more likely to open and read it.

I’m also trying to write in a more conversational style. I want to be more personal and less corporate. Even though sometimes I’m writing to thousands of people, I’d like you to feel as though I’m sending you a personal note. This way, you’re more likely to relate the subject of the email to your business. This is an important step in my making your membership to my website an invaluable business building tool.

The bottom line – I need to keep you engaged in an ongoing electronic “conversation”. By respecting your time and personalizing my messages, I’ll build greater loyalty and we’ll both win!

So, you’re probably wondering, how you can relate these same ideas to your business. At first blush, you might think coaching financial advisors is very different from the work you do on a daily basis. Certainly, managing an information based website is not the same as managing your clients’ finances.

Well, on one hand, you’re right – the subject matter is very different.

But, when you think about the relationships we’re both trying to build with our clients, there are a lot of similarities. These similarities exist in most every business.

Personal Connections Build Trust that Open Up Opportunities

  • The more you can personally connect with your clients, the more loyal they will be. I’ve sited numerous studies of financial advisors and their clients that support this point. Email, in particular, can improve this process.
  • Once you bring a client into your practice, you want to find opportunities to deepen the financial aspect of your relationship. This may mean adding assets to an existing investment or up-selling to another product or service. As long as you don’t overdo it, your electronic communications give you a chance to introduce new concepts.
  • Our recent polls have told us referral marketing is the preferred prospecting method for most advisors. A steady flow of high quality emails allows you to regularly promote referrals. Plus, if your content is truly relevant to your clients needs, some will forward email to people they know who have similar interests.

I’m sure you get the point. The more your clients view you as a trusted and consistent communicator, the more loyal they will be.

Now, how do you apply these ideas to your practice? It may sound complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. Give these 9 steps a try:

1. Start by collecting or organizing your clients’ email addresses. An advisor survey I ran a couple months ago indicated that 70% of advisors actively collect email addresses. My personal conversations with advisors anecdotally indicate that many of the folks who collect these addresses don’t have them organized.

If you’re serious about having an electronic dialogue with your clients, you need to maintain your clients’ email addresses in your contact management system. For those of you who don’t have a contact management system, you could begin with a simple spreadsheet. The client survey and profiling exercises in my Online Library are campaigns that could help you collect email addresses. I’ve also placed a letter in the Article Resources box you could use as a standalone campaign.

2. Ask your clients for permission to send them emails. Aside from industry and email marketing regulations, this strategy is central to proper email etiquette. It’s polite. Even if your intention is to use email to improve client service and communication, make sure it will be okay with each of your clients.

For example, you may require an email address on your new account forms or collect client business cards that contain email addresses. This does NOT mean you have permission to use that address for regular email correspondence. All the campaigns I mentioned in step 1 above help you ask for permission.

3. Make it easy for your clients to “opt-out” of future emails. Now, I know I’ve just started telling you how to collect email addresses, but you also need to give your clients an exit strategy. It will keep them from feeling trapped. Not everyone will appreciate your emails, so you shouldn’t annoy the clients who don’t want them. A simple statement at the end of each of your emails with “removal” instructions is all you need. By the way, the vast majority of your clients will be reluctant to cut-off your communication.

4. Each time you compose an email, try to have one client in mind. This writing technique will make each of your clients feel more comfortable. They may know they’re one of a zillion clients at your broker/dealer, but they still want to have a personal relationship with you and your team.

Once you get used to it, this conversational writing style is quicker than writing a formal letter. Think about it this way. Would you rather write a long letter explaining a recommendation or have a one-on-one call or meeting? Most advisors I know prefer the personal interaction. Your friendly emails are just an extension of these conversations.

5. Measure your promotional content against your informational content. If you’re going to use your emails to recommend additional products or services, don’t be pushy. Resist the temptation to send an over-abundance of promotional material. Remember, you’re trying to strengthen your relationships.

A good rule of thumb is to send no more than one promotional idea for each piece of value-added content you send – preferably less. If your clients are going to get 2 emails per month, only one of them should be promotional. If you send one email per month that contains multiple topics, limit your sales content to one idea.

6. Make sure your clients know its okay to forward your emails to family and friends. This may sound obvious, but sometimes your current clients don’t know you’re looking for new clients. A simple reminder in each of your emails will keep this on their minds. As they come across folks who might benefit from your services, your name will come more quickly to mind. Better yet, when they’re reading your emails they may forward them to others who will now have your contact information.

7. If possible, use an email service to track your results. There are many internet based services that will allow you to manage your emails the way I’m suggesting. Plus, you can track your effectiveness. Once you send an email to your clients, you can see if it went through, if it was opened, which topic they liked, who opted-out and who forwarded to a friend. I’ve been very happy with www.mailchimp.com, but a simple Google search will lead to a large number of alternatives.

8. Educate your compliance officers. In our overly scrutinized industry, compliance officers have a tough job. They don’t necessarily understand that a well orchestrated email communication plan will make their jobs easier. Take time to understand your firm’s email policies, map out your plan and ask for your compliance specialist’s feedback. This way you’ll head off problems before they occur and you’ll have a friend in compliance who’ll benefit from your knowledge.

9. Next, build an email list of your prospects and connections. I’ve intentionally focused on clients. But you can develop a similar process for your prospects and connections.

Okay, that’s enough to get you started.

When you commit to using email and the internet to improve your client communication, you’ll have a system that can be simple, quick, reliable and inexpensive. It can also pay big dividends in the form of greater loyalty, new business opportunities and increased referrals.

You just have to remember you’re having an ongoing “conversation” with your clients!

Idea for Summer Reading

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“Have you ever stopped to think and forgotten to start again?”

(Bumper Sticker)

During the summer vacation season, you and your clients will may be heading off for beaches, mountains and other far away places. This may make it more difficult to stay in regular contact with your clients. As a way of saying thank you for their business so far this year and to give them something special to remember you, send your best clients a book. Consider how your clients will feel as they sit under a beach umbrella and enjoy your token of appreciation.

Here are a few simple guidelines:

  1. Don’t get carried away, reserve this service approach for your most important relationships. Consider your “ULTIMATE” clients; these 50 to 100 clients are worth this small investment.
  2. What kind of book?
    a. Start by thinking of books you have read recently. If you enjoyed one of them in particular, your clients probably will too.
    b. It shouldn’t be a book about money, investing or wealth management, you don’t want your act of kindness to come across as a sales tool.
    c. You don’t need to spend a lot of money and it doesn’t need to be a recent title – $20 can go a long way.
  3. Though this may sound like a time consuming task, it can easily be done by breaking it down into bite sized pieces and using a little automation. Start with an amazon.com account and simply send out 10 books a week.
  4. Finally, don’t be in such a hurry you forget to personalize a note with each book you send. Even with online ordering you can put together a 4 or 5 sentence note that clearly explains your intentions.

If this idea makes sense for your practice, don’t put it aside for a later date. Make a quick list of your clients, pick a title and get going this week. Your best clients will be thinking of you all summer.

Using the “Personal Touch” to Strengthen Client Loyalty

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Your clients deserve to feel special!

In a world where emails and text messages can be overwhelming, sometimes it’s nice to get a handwritten card. At a time when your firm and strategic partners may be practicing “mass customization”, a personal letter can be a door opener.  In an environment where even your most loyal clients are considering new advisors, personal communication tops the list of client retention strategies.

And a dose of old fashioned letter and note writing may be just the right remedy:

  • When is the last time you wrote your clients a personal letter that wasn’t filled with market statistics or somebody else’s words?
  • In the past few months have you penned a handwritten thank you note or birthday greeting?

Handwritten notes stand out; the extra attention creates a bond of loyalty.  Think of the birthday cards you receive (or don’t) from businesses and other professionals with whom you do business.  There is a big difference between the cards that are signed by “Your Fiends at XYZ Company” and the ones that comes with a handwritten comment (even if the handwriting is hard to read).  In both cases, the intentions are appreciated, but the second card is more memorable.

In some cases, your personal attention will also counter the “mass customization” practiced by your firm and strategic partners.  Your clients are tired of phony personalization.  They see right through communications that begin “dear valued client” or pretend to offer “important information about your account”.  Only to be followed by meaningless market news, empty thanks for their loyalty or offers of a new product or service.

Let me repeat, your clients deserve to feel special!

Yesterday, I read an article in Investment News in which a consultant predicted that 20 to 30 percent of clients will leave their advisors.  It won’t happen all at once.  But wealthy clients are shopping; they’re taking a wait and see attitude with their current advisors.  And the level of personal communication you bring to your relationships will be paramount to your success in retaining your clients.

Does this sound like a difficult challenge?  It may be.  Changing your client communication routines can disrupt your everyday routines.  You may have to break habits you’ve been practicing for years.

But you must remember that you’re in the relationship business.  Personal attention is NOT an unrealistic expectation.  It may take some extra time and effort, but the payoff is huge.  You end up with a book filled with happy clients who are willing to give you all of their business and promote you frequently to their friends.

Let me offer some concrete ideas to get you started:

 

  • Create a routine for sending your best clients a personal note, card or letter at least once per quarter.  (See chapter 8 of “Delivering the Ultimate Client Experience”)  When you consider birthdays, holidays and other special events, some of your efforts to provide personal attention may already be a part of your practice.  You may only need to decide how many “other” personal touches you would like to make via handwritten notes or personal letters each year.

 

  • Write a short note on your regular monthly statements or quarterly performance reports.  Most advisors have a system for reviewing electronic or paper statements.  This review process represents an excellent opportunity for sending handwritten notes.  You do NOT have to write a note to all of your clients in the same month; simply divide your ideal clients by the number of months you plan to undertake this process.  For example, if you have 120 ideal clients and you spread this activity over 12 months, that’s only ten notes per month.

 

  • Develop a system for calling your clients based on their importance to your practice.  While on the surface, this approach may seem to require an inordinate number of phone calls; your focal point should be implementing the process, not the actual number of clients you contact on a monthly basis. Over time, the discipline of the process will have a dramatic effect on your practice.  From business you uncover on your outgoing calls to clients calling back when they need investment help, you have all but guaranteed that you are their advisor of choice.

 

  • Use the EncorePartners.com communication planning tool and our customizable letters to generate your personal client communication plan.  EncorePartners.com is filled with communication tips which can easily be customized for your style of doing business.  We add new ideas every month.  Whether you’re making calls, writing notes or sending letters, you can use the ideas in our library to design your own client communication plan.

The Activity Challenge

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Is your activity holding you back?

I was recently speaking with a member who remarked that he loved using my activity “tick sheet”.  In all honesty, I couldn’t remember giving him a copy.  He then told me that he learned about it a few years ago when I ran an “Activity Challenge” for members of my website; he has been using it ever since.

The idea was to get advisors whose businesses may have been plateauing to consider whether or not they were maintaining the activity required to move their practices to new levels of success.  It worked; several members reported great success with this simple idea.  So let’s try it again.

This coaching session will walk you through Part 1 of this 3 part exercise.  Watch for Part 2 in a couple weeks.

 A short war story…

When I began my career in the financial services industry, the “art of cold calling” was the primary prospecting method being taught by industry trainers.  From securing appointments to promoting tax-exempt bonds, cold calling was purported to be the quickest way to build a successful book of business – for a great many it was.  Today, a large number of veteran financial planners, wealth managers and investment advisors (me included) still maintain relationships with some of the clients they acquired through cold calling.

Though some advisors, despite increased regulation, are making this strategy work today; it is not one we would normally recommend.  At the same time, the disciplines that were necessary to be a successful cold caller can still be related to many of the client acquisition techniques being utilized today.  And though it may sound rather basic, one of the most important attributes of a professional cold caller was simply counting the number of dials and contacts made each day.

 Are you on a plateau?

This is frequently evidenced in our training work when we are asked for help in moving advisors through their production plateaus.  From mid-career advisors looking to break into top producer status to high achievement advisors with a desire to make another quantum leap, we always start by helping quantify daily client and prospect contact activities.  We do this because we have found that over time most producers over-estimate the number of calls or appointments they are actually making each day.

This misjudgment is not intentional; it is a function of the complexities of running a professional practice.  Activity-based goals which may have been important to an advisor as they moved to their current level of production are taken for granted and no longer measured.  Often-times, once these former activity objectives are reviewed and re-established, the advisor is able to quickly break through their current plateau.

The Activity Challenge, Part 1…

With this backdrop, we would like to challenge you to count your client and prospect facing activities for the next two weeks – the first phase of our “Activity Challenge”.  Whether your business is currently growing or stagnating, this simple activity will take very little time and will more than likely prove valuable.

Here are four easy steps for the first part of your test:

On top of a blank sheet of paper (you can also download my activity tick sheet), write down the number of contacts you believe you are currently making on a daily basis.  This is probably a number that comes to mind quickly and upon which you have previously organized your daily schedule.

  1. Next, create five columns on the paper and label each with the day of the work week.  You will need one sheet for each week you measure your contacts.  We would suggest a minimum of two weeks.
  2. Now we simply want you to count your activities using these categories:  client calls, prospect calls, client meetings and prospect meetings.  If you schedule telephone appointments, you may want to make a separate category for both clients and prospects.
  3. Finally, add up your activities by category at the end of each day and week.  We will show you how to evaluate these numbers in two weeks.

That’s it for part 1 of our “Activity Challenge”.   Stay tuned for Part 2 and Part 3 coming shortly.

 

6 Good Reasons to Call Your Clients – NOW

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Well, I’m not a doomsayer, but the volatility we’ve seen in the stock market tells me it’s time to redouble our efforts in maintaining client contact.  The best way to head off problems or a panic call is to beat them to the punch.

Now, I know some of you may be thinking something like, “I run a fee-based business and I’ve trained my clients to expect a few bumps in the road, so they don’t want me to call.”

What if you’re wrong?

Would you rather your clients get their comfort and reassurance from the “talking heads” or from you?

Would you rather your clients get their advice from an ambitious young advisor who has them on their prospecting radar screen or from you?

Plus, they’re YOUR clients, they deserve the best!

And regular communication, even when you’re not exactly sure what to say, is a great way to uncover new business opportunities.  You can gain referrals and build even more loyalty.

So, if you’re convinced you need to spend more time with your clients and you want an “excuse” to make a call, I’ve listed 6 great ideas below.  Decide which one(s) will work for you.

1.  The tax season call:  “Did you have any tax surprises (good or bad) this year?”  With April 15th approaching, your clients should have a clearer picture of how they’ll fair with Uncle Sam – even if they’re going to file for an extension.  Sure, you should already know the effect of your work on their taxes, but what don’t you know?  If it was a rough tax year, what can you do to make the current year better?  Use your call to set the stage for a 1040 review and spend time pointing to those areas over which you have influence.  You will also have a built-in excuse to look at investments or savings you may not control – brokerage and bank accounts, 401(k) plans, employment related stocks and options and the list goes on.

On the other hand, if a client had a good tax year, you still need to find out why.  Is it repeatable?  This information will help as you work with them to plan.  Again, look at the 1040.  Look for extraordinary events of which you were unaware; this may signal new opportunities for business.

2.  The second opinion call:  “With the volatility we saw in the market last week, I wanted to check in and see if you had a (stock, retirement account…) on which you needed a second opinion?”  If you set this question up as a “service” to your clients, you’ll score points for great service.  If you preface it by stating you’ve already reviewed their holdings with you, you’ll have an opportunity to capture new assets.

3.  Gathering email addresses:  “May I use your email address, text messaging or social media to stay in even better contact?”  This may sound pretty basic to email junkies, but in our polling of advisors we have been surprised to find that many limit their email use to internal or personal correspondence.  We think this is a big mistake.  Once you know the rules (not very complicated) and have your clients’ permission to send updates via email, you have a quick and inexpensive communication tool.

High net worth clients in particular are requiring more frequent contact from their advisors.  Many top producers send weekly or weekly messages (mini-email newsletters) to their best clients; they range from a few paragraphs they write themselves to hyperlinks to news of importance to research reports.  When you add these scheduled emails to periodic communiqués with breaking news, a personal note or a new idea; you are using a new technique to once again show your clients the value of your relationship and work.

4.  The advocacy question:  “Do you think (your friend, neighbor, work associate…) would be a good fit for my practice?”  We call this technique building advocacy; it is a powerful referral strategy.  Simply call your clients, mention to each the specific name of someone they know personally or professionally and ask if that person would fit in well with the way you run your practice.  Obviously before you call, you will need to take some time to research (using phone books and the internet) the neighborhoods, places of employment, civic organizations or social clubs with which they may be associated.  The extra step of doing this advance homework pays big dividends because it increases the likelihood of a referral and removes the blank stare that often accompanies an open-ended referral request.

5.  Reciprocation call:  “Thank you for your business and your loyalty to my practice.”  When is the last time you went out-of-your way to say thank you to your clients?  Sure, anyone with good manors expresses their appreciation during the normal course of business, but making a call just to say “thanks” is the mark of a world class advisor.  Everyone enjoys being told how much they are appreciated.  Remember, your clients are not just their money; they can be friends, supporters, cheerleaders and so much more.  Let them know you don’t take their loyalty for granted and how important they are in making your work so rewarding.

6.  Cross-selling call:  “I recently came across some new information and would like to introduce you to…”  Last but not least, taking extra time to introduce your clients to a product or concept with which they may not be familiar is a terrific way to uncover new opportunities and cross-sell.  This does not have to be a sales pitch, you could call to let them know you are dropping a report or news item in the mail (or email) and suggest they call you back if they have questions.  For example, if your practice focuses on asset allocation, but also has the capability of providing an estate plan review, make sure your clients know it – never assume.  An article about tax law changes or a complex planning strategy can go a long way in deepening your relationships.  All too often clients only think about you in relation to what you are already doing for them.  Be sure you regularly remind them of the full scope of your services. 

These client communication ideas have stood the test of time and are easy to implement.  If you’re looking for good excuses to stay close to your clients, find new business opportunities and provide value-added service, you now have plenty of ammunition.  As you settle on your activity plan for the coming weeks, put these common sense calling ideas to work and good

How to Help Your Clients Avoid Costly Mistakes

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I frequently hear financial advisor war stories which fall into the general category of “I wish I had known,” the premise being a missed opportunity to add value to a client relationship. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try instilling in your clients the importance of keeping you informed of significant life changes, they simply forget.

Most of the time you catch these changes during your regular review meetings, but when you don’t and it results in a client losing money or missing an opportunity you kick yourself. These unfortunate events are out of your control, yet being a true advocate for your clients’ success causes you to say (or at least to think) “I wish I had known.”

Let me quickly share a few stories which all could begin, “I wish I had known…”

…the attorney forgot to “name” the executor:

After an unexpected client death, this advisor learned that her client had changed his attorney and his trust documents without giving her an updated copy. The reason for the changes was not apparent as the advisor had worked closely with the client in recent years overhauling his estate plans, including the old trust. And though the new documents didn’t dramatically alter the advisor’s prior planning, the lawyer’s inadvertent omission of a named executor caused lengthy delays in settling what otherwise should have been an uncomplicated estate.

In this case the advisor was able to retain her deceased client’s assets by catching the attorney’s error and helping the heirs understand their father’s intentions, but it ended up costing everyone involved more aggravation, time and money than was necessary. The advisor concluded, “I wish I had known my client had decided to change his attorney. If we had reviewed the new documents together we would have caught the obvious oversight before it became a problem.”

…the life insurance program had become a problem:

About 5 years ago, this stockbroker introduced her client to an insurance specialist for a review and potential update of a second-to-die policy. Back then, this broker preferred not to handle estate planning business herself. Following the review, a new insurance program was put into place and the client was extremely pleased. For his part, the insurance agent promised at least annual calls to check on the client, but these calls never happened

Unfortunately, this lack of follow-up resulted in the client becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the insurance policy and it was cancelled. Several months later, when the broker learned of this situation during lunch with her client, she felt personally responsible and called the agent to assess the situation. The agent took responsibility for not keeping his commitment to her client, but it was too late to have the policy re-instated.

To make matters worse, life insurance was still necessary to provide the client’s estate with sufficient liquidity and the cost of new insurance is much higher than the prior policy. For her part, the broker now has a new addition to her team who specializes in estate planning, so this time she will keep the business in-house. “Unfortunately,” she remarked, “I wish I had known the client was frustrated, we could have saved him both time and money. This is not the way we like our clients to be treated.”

…my client’s employer was changing retirement plans:

In this situation, the advisor missed the opportunity to capture both the corporate retirement plan and a 7 figure rollover account. Although the advisor admits capturing the 401(k) account may have been a long shot, in this instance the client’s (not to mention the client’s co-workers) personal assets could have been rolled into an IRA. This would have been his client’s preference had he fully understood all the options.

The advisor told me: “My client and I discuss his 401(k) account every time we do a review, but he just didn’t understand his alternatives. When his company decided to change plans, he didn’t think to call me in between our regular quarterly meetings – I wish I had known.”

Have you had similar experiences?

You have probably encountered situations similar to these in your own practice. No matter how hard you try to deliver high level client service and communication, oversights which are beyond your control sometimes occur. The question becomes, how can you help your clients minimize these mistakes and lost opportunities? How do you keep yourself from saying “I wish I had known?”

Here are 3 ideas from past coaching sessions:

  1. Sometimes a simple phone call is all it takes. In the article, ”6 Good Reasons to Call Your Clients Now”, we give you 6 specific ideas for starting impromptu, yet meaningful discussions with your clients right away.
  2. On the other hand, you may need to implement a more consistent method for delivering regular client communication. If this is the case, our video, “A Simple Client Communication Strategy”, walks you through an easy to implement process you could put to work this month.
  3. Finally, if you are conducting annual client reviews our video, ”How to Make Your Client Profiles Count”, offers a specific approach for making the most of these meetings.

The method(s) you choose is up to you, but the key to minimizing “I wish I had known” scenarios is being sure your clients know you are their advocate. From impromptu phone calls to monthly communication strategies to improving your review meetings, you have many opportunities to stay in the forefront of your clients’ minds.