Wow Your Clients

• Put a contact management system in place for managing client birthdays, anniversaries or special life moments. Start with your top 25 clients and grow from there.

• Communicate more when the market is volatile. Call your clients on a regular basis.

• Put somebody on call for the weekends; life events don’t always occur during business hours. Since clients are “looking for a friend in the financial services business” and they may want to contact you on the weekends.

• Time is life’s most valuable commodity. It’s the only thing one can’t get back. Consider a time-saving gift for your most valuable clients such as: maid service (for a day), car detailing (once or on an ongoing basis), personal assistant services, (monthly).

• Client concierge services. Offer these services through your office. Helping your clients save time is crucial. Here are some ways that you can provide concierge service:

• Help to make travel arrangements.
• Help negotiate a deal on a car.
• Any other services that your clients may need help or referrals for.
• Assign a member of your team to be your “client service manager.” They can help you schedule appointments, luncheons and seminars. In addition to planning events, handling client gifts and greeting cards.
• Select one client per month and throw a birthday party for them at a restaurant or private club, inviting 10 people. Be sure to ask if the client would like to celebrate his or her birthday and to provide a guest list.
• Send a birthday cake to your client’s home on his or her birthday.
• Take your client to lunch for his or her birthday.
• Look for opportunities for creative gifting. Listen to what is important to your clients or something that they mention is interesting to them. Follow that up with a unique and memorable gift. For example, when a client becomes a grandparent send a gift basket with a camera, book, picture frame and other items. Or, send books they mentioned they want to read.
• It is the simple things that go the longest way. At times, your clients may be facing obstacles in life. If they have hardships, be there to help them. For example, if a client has just been in the hospital and needs yard work done, go to his or her house and mow the yard.
• Have fresh baked goods available in your office for your clients to enjoy when meeting with you.
• Use china cups or offer cold drinks in crystal glasses. These small things add to the overall client experience in your office.
• Offer different flavors of coffee in your office. Bring a new selection every day.
• Send your clients a giant Hershey bar: hersheygifts.com. These can be personalized and sent in a gift box.
• Send a personalized magazine subscription: intouchmarketing.com
• Great websites for finding gifts:
• netique.com
• redenvelope.com
• ecorporategifts.com
• thingsremembered.com

Send unforgettable edibles. Check out the following services:

• cookiesbydesign.com
• corsoscookies.com
• ediblearrangements.com
• winecountrygiftbaskets.com
• flyingnoodle.com

When you give books, you may want to think about buying in bulk. Borders, for instance, offers 20% off for store purchases and 25% off if the purchase is more than $1,000. If you want more flexibility, Barnes and Noble has gift cards that you can co-brand with your logo, and offers volume discounts that vary with the title being purchased.

Sources

The Gratitude Quick Guide by justsell.com

Herman, Tracey. “The Pampered Client,” Registered Rep., October 2001.

Swift, C. Marie. “Holiday Remembrances Reinforce the Client-Advisor Connection,” Morningstar, November 2005.

Thompson, Helen. “Thank You Very Much,” Advisortoday.com, 2006.

Temple, Claudia. “19 Tips for a ‘Must-Read’ E-Newsletter.” Horsesmouth, February 2003.

Vincent, Lynn. “Generating More High-Quality Referrals,” Advisortoday.com, 2006.

Cates, Bill. “How to Have Fun Generating New Referrals From Your Best Clients,” Horsesmouth, September 2006.

O’Connell, Brian. “Sell Yourself,” Registered Rep., September 2004.

Waddell, Melanie. “High Definition,” Investment Advisor, August 2006.