While contact records are the most important element in the health of your CRM system, client retention is the strongest signifier that your system is doing well. From the very first touchpoint, guiding prospects through the pipeline, converting them into clients to onboard, and receiving good reviews at the end are the key steps to ensuring your business thrives. Every client deserves an exceptional experience.
How much is one client worth? You’d be surprised by how much revenue is lost from a client not signing. Check out this annual value calculator to see what’s at stake. Then read on to learn how to increase client retention with the client journey.
Constructing the Client Journey
The client journey is the sequence of events a prospective client moves through when entrusting your firm with their wealth. If there are flaws in this process, you run the risk of attracting clients that are not a good fit, losing clients before they sign, or getting poor reviews (or no review at all). The steps in the process create a feedback loop encouraging more customers to entrust their accounts with your firm.
1. Prospecting:
How do you find clients who are a good fit for your firm? How do you communicate to them that you are a good fit for them? Email marketing, social media, and a website are the external elements which lead to good prospects. Internal elements include a clear understanding of the type of accounts you are skilled at caring for, knowledge of the issues your clientele faces, and the solutions to those problems.
2. Onboarding:
When you have a client that is appropriate for your firm, what are the steps to working with you? There are forms to fill out, emails to send, meetings to schedule, and follow-ups to make. Who is in charge of each of these steps? Are the steps consistent and repeatable? What review processes do you have in place to catch mistakes?
3. Client Reviews:
This final step is often overlooked, but it is a powerful multiplier in client retention. Rather than simply trusting you at your word, if you have a long list of happy clients, you can allow them to speak for you. Asking for reviews can be difficult. If it feels like begging, consider that it is also an opportunity for you to ensure your system is working. Are there issues? Are there places for improvement? What is going well? Client reviews feed right back into prospecting as new clients can see the demographics of other people who have employed your services and the value you provided.
Three steps. Three key opportunities to show potential clients the benefits of working with you.
How Does the Client Journey Increase Client Retention?
A financial advisor’s most valuable asset is trust. When a client entrusts their accounts to you, they are entrusting their livelihood, their future, and potentially their children’s futures to you. This is a big ask. You cannot ask them to do this on blind faith. Your client journey does this for you.
1. Prospecting:
Look at the type of clients you are attracting. Do they match the services you are able to provide? If the answer is no, you could be losing credibility. Not every prospect is going to be the right fit, but if you are not converting consistently or have to turn clients away, you are chipping away at your reputation. Know who you want to work with and do it well.
2. Onboarding:
Every client should get the same experience when they sign with you. In addition to kindness and strong customer service, a client should expect timely updates, forms, and meeting requests. They should know exactly what they need to do to move the process forward.
3. Client Reviews:
Asking a client’s opinion shows you value their insight. Sharing that review shows potential clients you deliver on promises. You can generate good will with current clients and attract new ones. Client reviews are an underrated win-win.
What are the Important Elements of the Client Journey?
The specific steps of your client journey will vary, but there are essential features it should have. Ignoring any of them could cause issues down the line and hinder client retention.
1. Consistency
Not every client is exactly the same. The wording may change on some emails. You’ll fill in different details, but the heart of the process should be consistent. Every client should go through the same steps. It should include the same level of care each time.
2. Repeatable
There are several steps to each section of the client journey, but if they are so complex you are having trouble repeating them, there is an issue. Each step should be clear and easily replicable. The easier it is to train someone to follow the client journey, the more likely it is to succeed.
3. Sustainable
Detail is necessary, but if it is bogging down the pipeline, steps are going to be missed. It is important to ensure the features you implement are evergreen.
4. Team Adoption
Is your team following the outlined steps the same way each time? If not, it doesn’t matter how consistent or repeatable your steps are. In fact, team adoption is one of the most important factors in client retention. Most often, they are the ones making the journey consistent and repeatable as they proceed through it with each client. Make sure your team understands the process and uses it.
From the very first interaction with a prospect, you are laying the groundwork for client retention. If you can guide them through your process consistently and accurately, you’ll build trust that will resonate far beyond that one client. Building a solid customer journey is not complicated, but it requires care and attention.
Want to see where your firm stands on a client journey? Take the client experience checkup. Give your clients the best experience and watch how your business can grow.
