"Why is it so hard to persuade clients that we care"?

This plaintive question came up in conversation with a financial advisor who is genuinely concerned about his clients' well being. In an online satisfaction survey late last year, however, many of his clients don't seem to pick up on his commitment and concern; in response to the question "my advisor always puts his clients' interests ahead of his", a substantial answer said they neither agreed nor disagreed or were unsure.

In my column in the March issue of Investment Executive, I outlined the reasons for the gap between the concern we feel and what clients perceive - and some things we can do about it.

It starts with the fact that the vast majority of our conversations relate to things from which we will potentially derive income - it's not that clients object to these conversations, but they often see them as being driven at least as much by our interests as theirs.

This isn't the case with every client of course - the level of client cynicism as to our motivations varies. In most cases, though, if you want to ensure clients feel you truly put their needs first, you have to occasionally do things where there's clearly nothing in it for you. There other two elements to communication that positions you as a trusted advisor who puts client interests first - it should be unexpected and personal. Unless communication meets all three tests - not self serving, unexpected and personal - you risk clients being unsure as to whether their needs or yours are your primary driver.

There are other traps that get in the way of sending the right message to clients. Investing in a client thank you dinner and then requiring that clients bring someone they know as the price of admission transforms the event from thank you to client development. Run a client appreciation event and have a speaker on investment opportunities in China and you risk turning the event from appreciation to education (and in the eyes of some clients a low level sales pitch) - regrettably, some clients ascribe revenue generating motivations to us even when that's not the intent.

In order to ensure that clients feel that you care, consider carving out two or three hours a week to focus on activity purely designed to let investors know that you truly appreciate their business and put their needs ahead of yours. Consider calling your best clients to say "It's been three years since we began working together - as one of my favourite clients, I'd like to buy you lunch to say thank you". Or think about borrowing one advisor's idea and booking off the first 15 minutes each day and calling clients to say "I'm calling because I wanted to be among the first to wish you happy birthday".

To read the full column on how to ensure that clients know you care, click on the link below

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=43536&cat=30&IdSection=30&PageMem=&nbNews=&IdPub=