Compelling. How can you make every recommendation you make more compelling so they are more inclined to act on your advice? Knowing what to do does not produce results. The results come from doing.
Experiential. What can you do to improve the experience of working with you and every human and non-human element of your process?
It’s not your clients’ responsibility to tell you how you can exceed their expectations and move them from one side of the relationship bridge to the other. It’s your job to figure that out. They don’t really know why they are still on the side of the relationship bridge where they think it makes sense to have three advisors or why they are reluctant to refer you. It’s just a feeling they have that none of their current advisors, including you, have done what it takes for them to trust you and your process enough to consolidate everything with you and refer you to everyone they know.
When asked about doing market research before he committed everything he had to making the automobile accessible to every person in America, Henry Ford replied, “If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
“People don’t know what they want until you show it to them,” said Steve Jobs. “That’s why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.”
During my recent stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Beach, Calif., the waiter asked me a unique question when I ordered hot tea at breakfast, “What kind of dairy would you like with your tea?” Really? What kind of dairy for my tea? What an awesome question! Honestly, I would have poured whatever dairy he brought to the table into my tea. But I had to ask, “What are my choices?” To which he replied, “Soy milk, almond milk, cream, half and half, whole milk, 2%, 1% or skim.”
As it turned out, I did have a preference that I didn’t know I had until he asked: 2%. Guess what question I have not heard since? I now have a new standard of service that only one company meets. What kind of dairy is offered to your clients with their tea or coffee? How many times will a client come to your office for a meeting before your staff remembers that they prefer their water room temperature and without ice? They may not tell you that it matters to them on the client satisfaction survey, but they’d be impressed if your staff did things like this to make their life easier without asking. Wouldn’t you?
Another way to elevate client value in a way that might move some of your clients across the relationship bridges is to do everything. Actually, you don’t have to do everything yourself, just make sure everything gets done. What is everything? It’s everything a person, couple or family needs to do to get their entire financial house in perfect order and keep it that way forever.
Consider everything related to taxes, investments, financial planning, insurance and legal services. Organize a half-day meeting with the smartest accountants, investment professionals, financial planners, insurance experts and lawyers you know and ask the question, “If we wanted to help our clients do everything required to get their entire financial house in perfect order, what would those things be?”
Two Bridges
October 1, 2014
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