The business world is highly competitive and smart financial advisors understands the importance of happy clients for a profitable business. Happy clients will not only sing the praises of your brand to others, but will make for repeated and loyal ones.

“When it comes to financial advice , meeting the bottom line or generating revenues are not all that makes for customer satisfaction. Clients are looking for transparency, tips and advice, trust, and performance as clients work towards achieving their life goals”  Matthew Brannelly, a strategic advisor and financial expert explains.

In this post,  Matthew Brannelly provides more insights and tips for finance professionals. This will help them to boost their service offerings while delighting their clients. Thereby boosting clients’ acquisition and retention.

Provide extensive services

Being a one-stop-shop for your clients is becoming more important more than ever. What is the point of running around in search of various financial offerings when you can always get it in the one place?  From tax planning to retirement planning to budgeting and accounting , offering a full suite of financial services will not only benefit the business but also the client. The convenience plus value-added will boost customer loyalty. These extra service areas  are also extra streams of income that will contribute to the growth of the company.

Be transparent

Many financial advisors are in the habit of hiding the struggles, mistakes, challenges and risks  from their clients, which is not always the best approach. And it’s no surprise many loose the trust and respect of their clients due to the lack of transparency. To avoid horror stories and get your clients to trust you more, explain every detail of the financial planning  strategy ,process and management including  how you are paid.. Addressed their concerns, answer all their queries and yes, it doesn’t hurt apologising when things didn’t go as planned. No one is immune to mistakes , and being honest from the onset will save you some problems and your loyal clients will surely stick around to work things out. By opening up more, you can establish a deeper and trusted relationship with the new and current clients.

Embrace customer-centricity

Instead of focusing on building ROI, how about building and strengthening the relationship with clients. “Customers today want to be respected and feel important. . After all, the whole service revolves around their struggles, dreams, goals, and how to turn it into a reality,” Matthew Brannelly says.  This means financial management teams need to know and understand their clients on a personal level. “Get to know their needs, their long term and financial goals, challenges and work towards making it happen. Understand that what they are committing to by receiving your advice  isn’t just a mere investment. But a lifetime of hard work and dreams,  that matters to them, their family and every other thing they hold dear,” he adds.

Deliver effective proactive communication

Matthew Brannelly says one of the constant complaints among clients has always been lack of communication. How long it took an advisor to answer their questions or how they haven’t heard from the advisors in months. How can one build a healthy relationship without communication? Communication no doubt remains the key to a great relationship. However, when it is not at the forefront of any business practices, the relationship can go sour and can lead to customers turning to competitors who are ready to give them what they need. That is why financial advisors need to stay in touch with their clients while leveraging every channel such as email, social media, newsletter and even phone calls. Moreover, give a prompt reply to their queries even to tiny details instead of ignoring them. This way your clients will feel valued and heard.