How much can you de-personalize your office before it is no longer efficient?
In a fast-moving world where communications are becoming increasingly
de-personalized (i.e. phone messaging systems with multiple layers of
menu choices before you speak with a live person), operating a
financial advisory practice that emphasizes the personal touch can
distance you from the "corporate" competition. One question, though, is
how far you can go with the personal touch before it is no longer
cost-effective. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to approach this
issue.
Let us first tackle the phone system. If you are a single practitioner
and have little or no support staff, you might be tempted to use an
automated phone messaging system. There are other, more personalized
choices available that just might permit your clients to feel as though
they are valued. One choice is to use a VoiP phone system with a
follow-me forwarding feature that allows calls to first ring into your
office and then be auto-routed to your cell phone or other numbers if
you are out of the office. If you choose not to take the call, it would
rotate to your voice mail. (Some services permit the recording of
several voicemails to be used in different situations; i.e.
after-hours, during business hours, holidays, etc.) With this concept,
at least you have given yourself a chance to answer the call live no
matter where you may be.
Another choice is to use a phone answering service with live operators.
For this, using an Executive Suite Service (offering office space,
clerical and phone services) might be preferred, as the population of
receptionists who answer your call is smaller (presumably local) and
you could customize the phone message any way you want (with
predictable results). You also might be able to communicate your
schedule with such a service so that they know when you are available
or not.
The goal is to have a live person answer your business phone line
whenever possible. If you have staff, using client relationship
management software (CRM) in conjunction with the phone system is
ideal. With this concept, you might be able to "recognize" the incoming
caller and generate a client information screen (from your CRM
software) for that caller with important information, such as names,
addresses, birthdates, etc. Recognizing a caller is a high complement
and is impressive when you can recall details such as an upcoming
birthday, anniversary or other important dates. Some CRM software
programs offer the opportunity to post a photo of your client on the
client information screen. This could help the recognition process for
your staff and yourself.
Though the phone system is generally regarded as the most important communication device in the office, it is by no means the only communications device. The Internet and e-mail have gained popularity for their ease of use and ability to communicate quickly. The danger with e-mail is that brevity of communications can often lead to misunderstood messages. In addition, batch emails can look suspiciously like junk mail. Many computers now have spam blockers and firewalls that can detect e-mails sent to hundreds of recipients. Therefore, what might be intended as an honest effort to get information quickly and cheaply into the hands of your clients could go unread. If you work with batch e-mails, a number of software and service solutions can overcome the issue of spam blocking.
Most practitioners recognize that applying the personal touch to
communications involves multiple forms of communication. An interactive
Web site with communication features such as contact forms, information
links, lockbox-type storage of client documents and other features can
add an additional source of information for your clients to access and
use. The lockbox feature is offered, for instance, in Junxure-I from
CRM Software (www.junxurei.com).
Their new ClientView service ties an Internet-based lockbox with the
ability to store client documents and batch upload client statements
and messages with its heralded client relationship management software,
a value-added service that can greatly improve efficiency in delivering
such information to your clients. Advisor Square from LiveOffice Corp.
(www.advisorsquare.com) also offers a lockbox feature with their Web
sites (as does EMoney Advisor, www.emoneyadvisor.com.) Recently,
Advisor Square added a WebSuite package for those practitioners who
would like to have fully integrated collaboration tools added to their
Web site. The WebSuite Package includes podcasting (the ability to
record a message, seminar or other communication and post it on your
Web site). Web conferencing is also offered, along with a
cost-effective version of teleconferencing and even a "click to call"
feature that permits an instant telephone connection to a live person
in your office.
Podcasting has become increasingly popular with the use of free content
services using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds. Most major Web
sites and hosting services offer RSS feeds with subjects ranging from
financial topics to just about anything you can imagine. Adding these
to your Web site permits your clients to customize what information
they choose to receive and how they wish to receive it. With the ease
of access to such content, care must be given with respect to
compliance issues.
Despite the increasing use of electronic forms of communications, there
is still a need for more traditional forms, such as letters, postcards,
etc. Letter writing can be greatly improved and personalized with
templates. Most word processing programs (Microsoft Word and Adobe Word
Perfect, for instance) have the ability to build highly customized
templates, with auto-insertion of names, dates, ages and other
information to provide the look and feel of a personalized letter,
while retaining the speed and efficiency of a templated letter. Adding
a client's name inside the body of the letter can greatly improve the
likelihood that your client will distinguish the letter from a
bulk-mailed version. Most Client Relationship Management programs that
offer letter writing capabilities with merge document features to a
client database also permit custom templates (Junxure-I, Goldmine,
Act!, ProTracker and many others offer such customization).
Remember a few rules about writing letters (or e-mails) when you construct your templates:
Good business writing is clear and lean, both
suited to its purpose as well as economic in its use of words.
Plan the document; determine the purpose (informative or persuasive) and consider the potential readers.
State the main point of the letter early in the document; most
readers lose interest after the first paragraph if you have not grabbed
them with the topic.
Organize the document logically and visibly; emphasize key points with highlights or bold print.
Use 12-point type (Arial or other clear font); older readers have trouble reading smaller type.
When writers consistently employ these principles of effective business
writing, their readers understand clearly why the letters/e-mails were
written and what should be done after reading them.
If you work with a broker-dealer, templates may prove to be more
efficient in gaining compliance acceptance over the submission of
individual letters and/or e-mails. They may also be simpler to compile
for compliance purposes when used with a CRM program that can sort and
batch-print the letters generated from the template(s). Check with your
compliance department for details.
David Lawrence, AIF (Accredited
Investment Fiduciary), is a practice efficiency consultant and is
president of David Lawrence and Associates, a practice-consulting firm
based in Lutz, Fla. (www.efficientpractice.com)