For a monetary advisor and their new shopper, the primary yr working collectively could be a significantly intense interval, sometimes involving a number of in-person or digital conferences. After this primary yr, although, the variety of scheduled conferences sometimes declines, usually together with just one or two formal conferences per yr to test on progress towards monetary objectives and reply questions.
Past these formal conferences, although, advisors nonetheless usually search to create extra shopper touchpoints – interactions that may be both personalised (like one-on-one cellphone calls) or standardized (like newsletters despatched to all shoppers). These touchpoints convey the continuing worth the advisor gives between conferences, significantly when shoppers are paying charges on a quarterly and even month-to-month foundation.
In inspecting how these shopper touchpoints have an effect on advisor productiveness, the 2024 Kitces Analysis on How Monetary Planners Truly Do Monetary Planning discovered a optimistic correlation between the variety of touchpoints and common income per shopper. Within the research, advisory groups with lower than $5,000 in common income per shopper reported a median of 14 annual shopper touchpoints, and people with $12,500 or extra in common income supplied a median of 20 touchpoints. Which means that advisors could supply extra touchpoints when shoppers are paying greater charges, and that these shoppers might also anticipate extra frequent engagement.
The revenue-per-client knowledge additionally means that advisors aiming to maneuver ‘upmarket’ could profit from providing extra frequent touchpoints – particularly since shoppers paying greater charges usually anticipate extra engagement. Nonetheless, shopper touchpoints aren’t nearly amount – the kind of touchpoint being supplied additionally issues. For instance, whereas personalised shopper cellphone calls require vital advisor time, standardized codecs like newsletters or webinars can supply worth extra effectively – and never each touchpoint format must be individualized to be efficient.
In its examination of shopper touchpoint methods, the Kitces Analysis Examine on Advisor Productiveness means that advisory companies are likely to cluster into three broad teams based mostly on the frequency and kind of touchpoints they ship: 1) Personalised Low Contact (about 10 touchpoints, primarily individualized by means of cellphone calls or private emails; 2) Personalised Excessive Contact (greater than 20 touchpoints primarily individualized), and three) Standardized Excessive Contact (greater than 20 touchpoints, primarily delivered by means of standardized means like shopper newsletters or webinars). Notably, service groups utilizing a Standardized Excessive Contact method are likely to report greater income per advisor than these utilizing both Personalised Low Contact or Personalised Excessive Contact approaches. This seems to be due partially to the power to supply a higher variety of touchpoints (linked to greater income per shopper) utilizing much less advisor time, releasing up employees capability for different duties.
Corporations contemplating a shift to a Standardized Excessive Contact method can begin by evaluating which sorts of shopper communication actually profit from a extra personalised method – and which may very well be standardized with out sacrificing shopper engagement. As an illustration, an advisor would possibly maintain a webinar addressing widespread shopper questions slightly than repeating the identical solutions throughout a number of cellphone calls. Or, asynchronous video communication may permit advisors to supply private responses with out the necessity to coordinate schedules with the shopper. Additional, companies with a high-touch providing can manage their shopper touchpoints into a transparent, digestible format (e.g., a shopper service calendar) to assist shoppers perceive the total scope of what is accessible and what to anticipate all year long.
In the end, the important thing level is that by providing extra standardized touchpoints – within the codecs that their shoppers discover most useful – advisors can strengthen shopper engagement and satisfaction (probably main to raised shopper retention figures and extra shopper referrals) with out overextending themselves!