Most investors in search of an advisor are looking for someone that they can trust.
Typically, trust is established as part of the “courting” process, when your clients are getting to know you and you are getting to know them. Once the relationship has been established, and the investment policy has been implemented, the key to client retention is keeping that trust. However, doing this is easier said than done.
In Salesforce’s 2015 Wealth Management report, 51% of investors admitted to being “dissatisfied” with their advisor’s ability to meet their needs. Deloitte’s 2014 Digital Disruption report was able to surface some of the reasons: for some it’s a lack of trust – a belief that advisors are putting their own interests ahead of their client, others felt that their advisor was not offering the right options tailored to their unique context. For millennial investors, in particular, their relationship with their chosen wealth manager is no longer as enduring it would have been for their parents.
So how best can wealth and asset management firms work to keep the trust they’ve initially built?
Creating and maintaining trust
First and foremost, clients want to be treated as people, not just as portfolios. This means actually listening to client needs rather than trying to foist your firm structured products upon them. Centring the conversation on client needs – and listening before speaking – provides a perfect way for clients to share with the advisor what is of most concern to them: their goals, feelings about risk, their family, and charitable interests. All of these topics are emotionally based, and a client’s willingness to share this information is crucial in building trust and deepening the relationship.
Another important aspect of trust is delivering on your promises. At the start of the client relationship, expectations are set regarding the services, strategies, and performance that the client should anticipate from you. Whilst you may not be able to guarantee a return on investment, some aspects, such as client contact and meetings, are entirely within your control, which is a good thing: Recent surveys suggest that clients want more contact and responsiveness from their advisors. Not being proactive in contacting clients and not returning phone calls or emails in a timely fashion were cited by Spectrem as among the top reasons for changing financial advisors.
Use Content Intelligence to maintain client trust
Content is increasingly employed by wealth and asset management firms to differentiate themselves in a highly regulated industry. You only have to look at these examples of asset management content marketing to see just how much information firms are exposing to their clients is drive an evolution of the traditional advisor value proposition.
Fortunately, content isn’t just useful as a vehicle for wealth and asset management firms to convey expertise and authority, it can also be used to understand your clients.
Organization such as JP Morgan and TD Bank use Content Intelligence to identify their clients’ needs and interests by automatically tracking their online reading arc. Even if they haven’t spoken to a client for some time, advisors are presented with a real-time dashboard of their client’s interests. Armed with this information, their advisors are able to have a more informed and proactive client engagement; and are in a better position to build client trust in the digital age.
