Michael Silver and Eric Sheikowitz, senior managing partners at Focus Partners, a coaching and consulting organization launched in 2006, are in the business of training advisors to "wow" clients.

Editor’s Note: This interview forms part of sister publication WealthBriefing’s latest research report, The New Normal: Codifying Superior Client Experience In Wealth Management, which was produced in association with Barclays Wealth and Investment Management and will launch on May 15. Access to the report will be free as part of member benefits.

Michael Silver and Eric Sheikowitz, senior managing partners at Focus Partners, a coaching and consulting organization launched in 2006, are in the business of training advisors to "wow" clients, and say that having this as a strategic goal is a savvy decision for advisory firms.

Focus Partners’ approach to advisor training is “about doing the right things at the right time with the right people,” said Sheikowitz, but while this maxim might be neatly memorable, actually adhering to it can be a matter of some work.

As they move to create a better client experience through improved systems, the first thing which Silver and Sheikowitz ask advisory firms to do is to “get their house in order” and make sure they are segmenting clients effectively. The aim of this segmentation exercise is to “put a very robust, proactive service model in place so that you and your clients are completely aligned and there’s transparency over expectations,” explained Silver.

Managing expectations over things like contact levels is key to client satisfaction, but it also ensures that firms are concentrating their efforts on their most profitable segments. “We like to say treat your clients fairly but not equally, so that’s step one: get your service model in place,” said Silver.

Their next piece of advice relates to client segmentation, but also to ongoing data management, and that is to perform “very deep profiling” of clients – something which they believe is “critical” but is often not done in any real depth.

They advise building a 360-degree view of the client which covers their house of worship, hobbies, charitable interests etc, so that advisors can start making connections on a personal relationship level. “This helps to keep that client with you for generations and it’s going to open up the door for all sorts of qualified introductions and referrals,” said Sheikowitz.

In-depth profiling also generates opportunities to create a “wow” client experience, he continued, explaining that this is “of paramount importance because everything an advisor does should really be to ramp up the relationship with the client.” But beyond nice touches like greetings cards, he believes that “learning about a client’s life is really the be-all and end-all of the game.”

“They don’t just wake up one day and say ‘hey I think I need to start investing’, they are making financial decisions based upon life events,” he said.

Silver also pointed out that poor client discovery can lead to embarrassing - yet preventable - incidents, and we could think here of gifting alcohol to a client who may not drink on medical or religious grounds. Equally an advisor might repeatedly recommend a client dumps an investment which they are actually very emotionally attached to because it was bequeathed to them.

Showing understanding

In Sheikowitz’s view, demonstrating this understanding is paramount when dealing with the discerning HNW segment, and so wealth managers should emulate what other luxury brands do from a client experience perspective.

“Clients want to believe that the person that they are dealing with really knows and cares about them and their life – that’s what a lot of advisors and firms are missing the boat on,” he said.

Silver also advocates borrowing the service level agreement concept, not only to help manage clients’ expectations but also to help them “palpably perceive the value that they are getting because they are treated a certain way.” At present he believes there is “absolutely a disparity” between how clients are generally treated by law firms and luxury retailers on the one hand and wealth managers on the other.

According to Silver, firms need to show much more appreciation of the choices available to clients and adopt the kind of high-end, high-touch, luxury mentality which will keep them coming back.

“You need to create what I call a ‘family office feel’. You want to get to the point where you’re not necessarily picking up the dry cleaning for your clients, but you have a really good recommendation on who should,” Sheikowitz added.

Advisors should also avoid complacency after initial onboarding because at that point “they’ve won the battle but they haven’t won the war,” said Silver, explaining that the client’s mindset might be much more akin to a quarter-long trial period.

“We think that a 90-day onboarding period is critical to making sure you own that relationship long term,” he said. “It’s about a series of different contacts and checklists which not only the advisor but their service and support team can help execute upon to really wow the client ‘right out of the box’.”

Here, some of the opportunities include: walking clients through online access; a discussion of their first monthly statement; inviting them to a company conference call; or sending them a little gift just to say, “Thanks, we’re looking forward to working together.” 

Silver and Sheikowitz acknowledge that a lot of what they are saying is nothing new, but their focus is on transitioning firms from knowing best practice to actually embedding it in business operations.

“We don’t re-invent the wheel here, it boils down to a couple of things: one of them is accountability – they know this stuff but they’re not doing it,” said Silver.

Another priority is ensuring all parties are aligned on the level of service which is going to be delivered – this too is about accountability and making sure brand promises are fulfilled.

“I often ask advisors what differentiates them and a lot of the time they will say ‘my service’ 
everyone thinks they are giving client service but it’s whether they are really delivering that at the level the client expects and deserves,” said Silver.

Advisors which make client service the “number one thing in their book” are in fact making a savvy business decision for the long term, in Silver and Sheikowitz’s view, and this is because a solid service model can be relied upon, whereas the markets cannot.

“In the absence of performance, what does an advisor have? It really comes down to service,” said Sheikowitz. “Clients are not with an advisor because of performance, because performance comes and goes. They are with advisors for the relationship.”