Practice Lab: Exceptional communication in volatile times

If there has ever been a key time to go above and beyond in reaching out to your clients, it’s right now. Clients want to know that you know what you are doing and that you understand their unique situations.

Not communicating leaves clients with one of the following messages: I am not important enough. My portfolio must be even worse than the market. My advisor is panicking.

So, what communication strategies work best? Here are some approaches that advisors we coach have been using.

E-mail: Sending an e-mail allows clients to read your message at their own pace and reply to it if necessary. One advisor has sent several articles from different sources, including Warren Buffet and the Wall Street Journal, with a short interpretation of what this means to clients. Impact with clients: Clients were appreciative of the timely response and having access to resources they may not normally be exposed to.

Telephone: One advisor had two assistants call 100 “B” clients. Another had her assistant make telephone appointments with those clients who wanted to speak to the advisor, saving everyone time. Impact with clients: Ninety per cent of these clients did not feel the need to speak directly to the advisor after hearing from the assistants. This example illustrates an important point: by having assistants handle the calls, you can save yourself time, be more efficient and still have the same impact connecting with clients.

Meetings: Often face-to-face meetings are the best method of communicating when emotions are involved. Some advisors are tacking another 15 minutes onto their regularly scheduled reviews to discuss the markets. It is important for advisors to keep clients focused on their long-term goals. If your financial plan has specific goals and objectives, then staying the course makes sense. Impact with clients: Spending face time with clients helped to alleviate any panicking.

Small seminars: One advisor invited small groups of clients into the office, providing a forum for people to ask questions and talk about how they are feeling. Impact with clients: Clients left the meeting feeling they were not alone in their situation.

E-newsletter: One advisor sent out a special electronic newsletter to his clients, with important details about the markets.

Impact with clients: An e-newsletter is a quick and proactive way to inform and educate clients. The advisor reports that some clients forwarded the newsletter onto friends and family members, creating prospects and referrals.

Feedback: Even though your clients may not be overly enthused about the performance of their investments — and, as a result, your performance, too — that doesn’t mean you should stop asking for their feedback. For instance, you can still solicit feedback using a value-seeking question like, “Putting the markets aside, how are we doing?” Impact with clients: Clients were comforted by this confidence and the commitment that you are focused on providing value regardless of the market conditions.

No matter which communication method, or combination, you choose, it’s essential to allow clients to communicate their emotions, and then bring them back to reason. Use graphs, but try to use ones that apply closely to their experience. Show them what happens when you are out of the market for short periods of time. In other words, point out the benefits of staying in, but remind them that they have the freedom to make this choice.

Finally, it’s important to do the following five things in all your communications with clients.

Listen to how the client feels.
Explain the reality of the market.
Revisit or establish a financial plan.
Review risk tolerance.
Promote the opportunity to invest.
Ask for introductions to people they care about who may not be receiving the communications they need.

April-Lynn Levitt is a Calgary-based coach, and Kim Poulin is a Montreal-based coach. They provide one-on-one customized coaching to financial advisors.

(11/14/08)