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Matt Oechsli
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Atlanta: "Every advisor who listens to you or reads
your research knows what today's affluent want in a financial advisor,"
said Tim with disappointment. "How can I differentiate myself when
everyone is telling the same story?"
This conversation occurred a few days before my wife Sandy and I
were scheduled to leave for a 10 day vacation in Provence and Paris. I
forgot about this little discussion until we were in sitting down to
lunch at one of those touristy cafes in Paris on the Seine. Suddenly, I
began thinking of Tim and exactly what he, as well as every other
financial advisor marketing his or her services to the affluent, must do
to differentiate himself from the competition.
Because we had decided to grab an early lunch, Sandy and I were able to
watch the rhythms of this little café as it began to fill with what
appeared to be a convivial lunch crowd. Everyone was greeted by a well
dressed middle-aged woman in the same friendly manner as we had been,
with one difference; she knew many of the patrons by name and kissed
each one (male and female) on both cheeks. It became obvious that she
was the owner and then it dawned on us: what had looked to us like a
tourist café was filled with local Parisians.
Why not? The service was excellent (personal and friendly), the
food was wonderful (as expected in Paris), the price was moderate (which
says a lot in Paris), and upon departing we were bid "adieu" with the
same warmth as when we entered.
This was a stark contrast to our experiences at a couple of other
casual lunch places, where we got poor or indifferent service, and at
one convenience store, where the clerk yelled at Sandy for taking a
photo of the beverage I was about to purchase--but that's another story.
Each of these establishments seemed to be focused on attracting and
serving affluent tourists. They purchased food from similar
distributors, hired staff from the same talent pool, and operated within
less than a mile from one another. But our various experiences in these
establishments were very different. One cafe was forgettable, the
convenience store was so bad it's already become a joke, and the little
café on the Seine is etched in our memory-we'll eat there again and
pass on the word.
If you've yet to build a bridge between my meandering tourist
experiences in Paris and Tim's concerns, let me provide a bit more
clarity. As we all know it appears that every financial advisor is
marketing similar products and services, just like the cafés along the
Seine.
The following are five of 16 statistically significant criteria our
latest research has uncovered that are important to affluent investors
regarding their financial advisor. As you peruse them, you might find
it helpful to think on two parallel paths:
Path One: The consistency with which you are currently
addressing each of these criteria. All are non-negotiable with today's
skeptical affluent investor and must be considered a priority for
relationship management.
Path Two: Assuming that you are or will soon be consistently
delivering on each of these criteria, the multi-million dollar question
becomes: what fine-tuning is needed to transform these criteria so that
they make you stand out? Keep in mind that your professional reputation
and the first impression you make are the two most critical ingredients
in an affluent investor's selection process today. Differentiation is a
personal commitment because it requires hard work.
Criteria Important to Today's Affluent
Provides clear and timely communication.
Our hostess gave us a choice of tables, seated us, told us the name of
our waiter, who promptly appeared and explained the lunch specials, took
our order, and updated us on the status of our order.
Resolves problems quickly and to my satisfaction.
We had no problems at our favored café, other than that the water
bottle ran dry, but it was refilled quickly.
Delivers high level personal service.
The reputation of this café within the local community must be
built on consistent high-level personal service. However, you can
relax, as in the US you don't have to kiss your affluent clients on both
cheeks.
Has my best interests at heart, whatever decision is being
made.
Don't you love it when a waiter recommends a lower priced selection
from the menu? Ours did.
Cares about me more than just my investments
(business).
Our limited French didn't allow us to eavesdrop on the animated
conversations our hostesses was having with each of her customers, but
they were extensive and had to go beyond describing the lunch specials
of the day. I imagine her asking about the children, where they went on
vacation, and so on.
Today you have the perfect playing field to differentiate yourself.
Each of the 16 criteria important to the affluent, including the five
above, are extremely important to the affluent but most financial
advisors either aren't aware of that or aren't living up to the
affluent's expectations.
This goes beyond service. Today's affluent investors don't feel
that their financial advisors are delivering the goods - period. But
just delivering the goods is not good enough. That's represents the
baseline, like serving good food in a café -- you must differentiate
your business through personalized service.
If you would like a FREE copy of all 16 criteria our research
highlights as important to today's affluent investor visit our free
download center. This is brand new, pre-released research.
Enjoy!
Once again, we want to thank all of you who have emailed comments and
questions to us. We will continue to do our best to answer each one.
If you have any topic suggestions or special requests, please contact
Rich Santos, publisher of Registered Rep. and Trust &
Estates magazines, at rich.santos@penton.com.
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