91% said they check their e-mail every day;
Some of Ford's clients not presently connected to the internet expressed a desire for his help in getting connected, i.e., choosing a computer, setting up an internet connection or email address, and getting trained;
Other questions in Ford's survey indicated clients are just as eager for ongoing financial planning information as they are investment information.
This survey confirms that Ford's clients (and probably yours, too) place a high value on timely responses and are open to e-mail, even though they want more personal forms of contact at times. However, says Ford, "The contact my clients want by phone or meeting is generally to answer urgent questions of a financial planning nature. A client might call to say, 'We just discovered that my father has accounts in four savings and loans that no longer exist.' I rarely get questions from clients about their investments, because they know they are going to see me soon anyway," says Ford, referring to the regular meetings he has with clients.
At the far end of the spectrum from Ticknor is Pat Horan, owner of Horan & Associates Financial Advisors Ltd. in Towson, Md. "We believe e-mail is a timely, personable way to communicate and it is our preference for communications. During volatile markets, as we have seen in the last 36 months, we use e-mail to broadcast messages to all of our clients and for one-on-one communications. For example, on 9/12/01 we sent out an e-mail message to all clients urging them to stay cool after the terrorist attacks. We noted that the events that took place were political and economically driven, and we believed that when the stock markets opened again there would be an initial sell-off in the market and then it would stabilize-which in fact is what happened," says Horan.
Horan also uses e-mail to answer specific client questions, such as, "Why did you buy this or that?" and "What do you think about this stock or that stock?" He says, "If clients need money from their accounts or have specific questions, we like e-mails as we can respond to them directly and in a timely matter. I would estimate that approximately 10% to 12% of our 540 clients have expressed concerns about the overall economy and equities market. Of those who communicate that they are anxious about current conditions, about two thirds communicate via e-mail."
In conclusion, the march toward greater efficiency through the heightened used of e-mail continues. How much you play a role in it depends upon your outlook and how you've trained your clients. For example, your own comfort with e-mail may dictate how essential you think it is. Some advisors perceive it as an advantage in that frequent, brief e-mail reports can leave clients with the right impression-that you are on top of things and intend to keep open the lines of communication. Others think it a disadvantage, a lazy form of communication that leaves the client dissatisfied.
In the end, can client fears only be address by phone or in person? No, says Horan: "I answer the phone calls with a phone call and the e-mails with e-mail responses. Clients seem to dictate their preferred method of communication and I respond based on how they communicate with us." Perhaps Horan's approach makes the most sense.
David J. Drucker, MBA, CFP ([email protected]), a fee-only financial advisor since 1981, is co-author of the book Virtual Office Tools for the High-Margin Practice (Bloomberg Press, 2002) and the Virtual Office News newsletter, both available at www.virtualofficetools.net.