Deepen client relationships to become the advisor of choice

How much of your client base are you prepared to lose? Industry observers note that high-net-worth clients tend to have more than one financial advisor — with numbers ranging from 1.5 to 2.5, even up to four.¹ Given their typically complex financial pictures, these clients may value a diversity of perspective while building their wealth. But as they start to think about retirement, they may want simplicity and choose to work with one advisor.

Many advisors assume they have the majority, if not all, of the assets invested with their clients. However, is it possible that in the past, your client had opened a small account at a local community bank to qualify for a car loan? Is it possible that ten years ago, your client had opened up a small 529 plan to help a new advisor get their practice going, and now that advisor is tenured and looking for increased wallet-share? Those small relationships with other advisors and institutions also count.

So how can you better position your practice to be the advisor of choice? Simply stated: Put your client and their priorities at the center of the relationship.

“If you’re one of three advisors working with a client, you must have unique and deep conversations about their life goals, or it will be easier for them to choose someone other than you at crunch time,” says Wassan Kasey, advisor practice management consultant at Capital Group. “If you lose that client, you lose revenue. And it’s too late to prove it to them once they reach retirement. That’s why it is crucial to talk to them about more than returns right from the start.”

Here are five ways to help build deeper client relationships and encourage clients to make you their advisor of choice.

1. Know where you add high value

Remember, the firm you run today wasn’t the practice you started. Over time, you’ve honed your skills, added team members to help both fill out and enhance what you do best and you’ve added services you know your clients need and want. Make sure your clients are fully aware of the full scope of advice and capabilities your firm can offer them, which may include most, or if not all the following high value areas: goals, education, investing, engagement, coaching and guidance, and relationship and legacy.

However, one area stands out amongst the others — and that is your unique ability to forge deep, trusted relationships with your clients. In order to help clients understand the value of your advice, you’ll have to anchor on mutual trust — something that cannot be replicated by your competition.

2. Increase your agility

An important role of the advisor is to help uncover client goals and align investment strategies to help achieve them. And this is an ongoing process, as goals are dynamic and shift as life and careers evolve. They can also come in complicated groups, making planning to achieve these goals and measuring progress more challenging — and a great way to demonstrate your consistent commitment and deepen client engagement over time. In short, your agility as an advisor, a coach, is important here — how you educate and help clients navigate through their evolving needs will result in deeper engagement and increased competitive advantage.

For current clients, even long-term clients, that means going back again and again to discovery.

• Uncover any important life events and changes to goals and/or changes in priorities.
• Then update strategies in place to align with these stated changes.
• The way you communicate back to your clients will be critical: Use each client interaction as an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to achieving their stated goals and uncover new ones.   

3. Ask deeper, better questions

To get to the heart of your clients’ goals and stand out as an advisor who can spot issues and opportunities on a deeper level, surface level questions won’t do. For that, you will need to ask questions that scratch at the history, motivation and belief systems that drive and define each client’s individual goals as they evolve over time. This deeper level of asking questions can be a key differentiator and a way to connect with clients, support their goals and help identify areas of growth for your practice.

One framework to consider is the iceberg method that seeks to understand the motivations and beliefs that are underlying a person’s stated intent. In an effort to establish long-lasting relationships, this is a profound method you can use in developing a deep understanding of the ‘why’ beneath a person’s need, want or wish.

4. Use the annual review to increase wallet share

How are you helping clients see you as a guide and coach? The annual review and other client communications provide opportunities to showcase the depth of the relationships you share with clients. If you are better able to standardize an approach to client meetings, then you can develop a seamless method for creating deeper connections with your clients.

Some considerations to help make meetings more productive:

• Before the meeting: Review with support staff client progress towards stated goals and objectives. What prep items should clients bring with them? What materials do you want clients to review ahead of the meeting?
• During the meeting: List the additional insights you'd like to highlight. Which centers of influence do you need to meet? Which family members do you want to engage? How are you aligning portfolio construction to goals?
• After the meeting: Review with team whether any portfolio changes are necessary. What is your process to change course if necessary?

Most importantly — what new questions are you asking your clients? We often ask the same questions to almost everyone.  Think about asking new questions to uncover deeper alignment with your best clients. And don’t forget to share with clients that the conversations you’re having are being reflected in the portfolios you’re managing.

“Advisors who successfully retain clients are focused on continually ‘winning’ their business,” says Kasey. “Being an active listener in meetings, noting subtle changes in clients’ circumstances and proactively offering ideas to support evolving client goals and priorities can help persuade them to move all of their business to your practice.”

5. Take the first step to “win the relationship“

Remember, there is a good chance that many of your high-net-worth clients may have assets with other advisors. But you won't know for sure unless you ask. Sometimes, acknowledging the realities of multiple advisors, and helping clients understand it's not a taboo subject, can increase the likelihood that they give you a meaningful look at their other assets.

Language is incredibly important as we build deeper relationships. It's easy to ask a client, “What assets do you have with other advisors?“ Providing deeper reasoning and transparency can provide a better understanding of the ask. Here are a few questions you can use to uncover assets held elsewhere.

• “As part of my role, it is important for me to understand your total picture and the other assets you have with financial professionals.”
• “I’d love to know the allocations and securities you have with your other advisors, so I can make appropriate recommendations for this portfolio and its intended uses.”
• “I'm striving to help you achieve your goals, and with this added information, I can guide you more appropriately.”
• "Would you share with me your account statements so I can make a better recommendation for your goal setting?"
• “It’s been my experience that clients I work with often have smaller accounts elsewhere. While it may seem insignificant, it’s an incredibly important part of our planning process. If there’s anything else you think we should be considering, no matter how small of an account, please let us know and we’ll infuse it into our recommendations for you and your family.”

“At its heart, a financial advisory practice is a people business. Investments and wealth plans are the tools you can use to show clients you have a deep understanding of their individual goals and life priorities,” says Kasey. “Keep a curious mindset and don’t assume you always know.” Remember, continuous discovery and acknowledgment of the dynamic nature of goal setting and advice is your job. But doing it exceptionally well will increase the likelihood of you retaining and increasing wallet share as time goes on. 

¹Source: CEG Insights, formerly Spectrem Group, 2021. Wealthy Investor Research. (1.3 – 1.5 advisors); Reuters, 2011. One adviser isn't enough, say investors. (2.25 advisors); TheStreet.com, 2017. Why Having More Than One Financial Advisor Is Advantageous. (2 – 4 advisors)