To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.
Whilst more and more advisers are beginning to understand the value they bring to the client relationship (and their ability to articulate this is improving), often the adviser’s perception of value can be very different to that of the client. In other words value can be perspective dependent.
In an employer/employee relationship for example you better well prove that that you are worth more than you cost if you want to hang on to your job! Or at least that’s how it should be. In reality mediocrity is too easily tolerated. In a client adviser relationship, the adviser is engaged because the client expects to derive value in excess of the cost.
As I state on my website, the value of anything is the difference it makes. In this profession, the difference that advisers can make to the lives of their clients is enormous but this value often remains concealed from the client for a number of reasons that have their roots in organisational culture.
In large corporate organisations typically employees are assessed against their job description according to the scope of the role and how well the job has been carried out, often with little reference or reflection on the impact or difference that the employee has made. Job descriptions themselves outline the scope of the role and the key responsibilities and accountabilities but tend to be silent on the difference the job-holder is expected to make.
Employee appraisals focus on what the individual has done well or where their development needs lie. Imagine instead, a performance appraisal that starts with the question, “Well, John, tell me what difference you’ve made in the last 6 months?”
Likewise advisers tend to talk about the “content” of their job, their skills, experience, qualifications etc., when what really matters is the difference they are likely to make to the life of the client in front of them.
For example, as an adviser you might be an excellent technician, great at meeting deadlines and really well organised (all of which are great attributes but nevertheless merely expected) but as a client what I’m interested in is whether you are going to be able to help me achieve my financial objectives, get me on the right path and keep me there, explain seemingly complex things in a way I can understand, help me feel safe, secure and confident about my financial future. That’s “value” to me. That, I’ll happily pay for.
Whilst it is important that you understand your own perception of the value you add it is possibly more important to ask clients what it is about the work that you do that is of most value to them. It can be revealing and helpful in refining your offer.
Good intentions are no substitute for action; failure usually follows the path of least resistance.
Think you are a good team player? Maybe you’re right. But then again…
I came across this article from Fortune Magazine which was posted on CNMoney.com about Jim Vesterman a consultant and private equity professional in the US who gave it all up to join the US Marines. They take teamwork to a whole new level. Whilst it’s a longer read than my typical post (maybe 10 mins tops) I think it’s worth sharing. You can read the complete article here.
People can alter their lives by altering their attitude
William James
I have spent much of this week reading and refining the client propositions for a number of our consultancy clients so I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate this weeks blog to that topic, by way of an article that was published on Marketing Hub recently. Evaluating your own client proposition means asking yourself the right questions and this article does just that. You can read the full article here.
Opportunities are disguised by hard work, so most people don’t recognise them
Ann Landers
If you haven’t already read the FSA’s policy Statement on Platforms, PS11/09, then this brilliant overview (10 pages instead of 70+) from specialist platform consultancy The Platforum, will give you all the key headlines with additional thoughts and comments from other key industry figures. Great work from Holly and the team. Download PDF here
If you are anything like me, you are probably fed up of the daily headlines concerning the systematic hacking of phones by News International and/or the people it engaged. Some of the alleged incidences are shocking and despicable without doubt, but to me, the whole sorry tale is an indicator of the culture of the organisation. Even a little humility in front of the parliamentary select committee has done little to quell the storm. But what can we learn from the way Murdoch runs his business?
1. Power can be dangerous
I doubt that humility is often witnessed in Rupert Murdoch’s boardroom. He has always appeared to be an insular character, who has surrounded himself with people who have been highly dependent on him, owe him everything and have therefore, been reluctant to tell him what he needs to hear. Leaders need an independent viewpoint. It’s hard to be impartial and dispassionate about the business you’ve created. That’s natural. And that’s why an external perspective from someone with no agenda, who is prepared to say what needs to be said and ask the questions that need to be asked, is important to any business.
2. Success can be dangerous
There is no question that Rupert Murdoch is one of the most successful media figures in history. But success can make you blind to the need to change, the need to understand the changing needs and values of your clients. There seem to be no lengths that News International (and the News of the World in particular) wouldn’t go to to get an inside track into the lives of celebrities and victims of crime. As Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson say in their brilliant book Rework, “Culture is the by-product of consistent behaviour”. Need I say more? Success in the past is no guarantee of success in the future. Be humble and willing to learn from others.
3. Profit before principles will kill you eventually
News Corporation have been around for many years. The News of the World even longer. Whilst the shareholders of News Corporation seem to have been comfortable investing in a “family” run business, due I am sure to decent returns, they are now paying a price as it’s shares trade at a lower multiple of earnings than any of it’s competitors. Putting clients first will bring your clients back again and again and will lead them to readily refer you.
4. Reputation is everything
It was clear that the News of the World was on the slide when it’s biggest ticket advertisers began to distance themselves from the paper and started spending their advertising budgets elsewhere. With it’s reputation shot to pieces, the demise came very quickly and was almost inevitable. Recovery would have been a long hard road with no guarantee of success. Manage your reputation.
5. Show you care. Really care.
In the early days of the crisis all the footage and photos of Murdoch showed him grinning like a cheshire cat. What impression did that leave with the public. Arrogant? Uncaring? Detached? Disconnected from reality? The show of humility in front of MPs, even if genuine, was too little too late. Show your clients you really care. As a potential client, I don’t care how much you know, until I know how much you care!
Measuring “Client Experience”
How can you measure client experience? Is it even possible to measure something so intangible and “touchy feely”? I believe it is. You can for example monitor the real world interactions your customers have with your firm (e.g call recording/reviewing or observed meetings) and ask for the client’s perceptions of those interactions. You can also track what your customers do as a result of those interactions (e.g. like giving you more of their money to invest or recommending you to friends, family and peers).
Few advisers in the UK seem to actively solicit formal feedback from their clients. Anecdotal feedback from advisers I’ve spoken to about this suggests that PI insurers tend to get a bit twitchy about resulting negative comments which might have to be construed as a complaint, but surely there are sound commercial grounds for wanting to know whether you are ticking all the client’s boxes? Besides, understanding how you can improve your clients’ perceptions of your service and implementing measures which will do just that, is likely to reduce the risk of future PI claims… isn’t it?
3 key questions
Here are three questions about your client experience that it’s worth seeking your clients perceptions on, scored on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (excellent). Customers want their experiences with a company to be useful, easy, and enjoyable. To find if that is your clients’ reality, ask them these 3 questions…
Asking these 3 questions will enable you to create a “Customer Experience Index” which you can track over time to measure how you are doing and what effect any improvement measures, have on your index score.
Calculating your “Client Experience Index”
For each question take the percentage of clients that score you 4 or 5 and subtract the percentage of clients that score you 1 or 2. The implication here is that the results from clients who score you 3 get ignored? On the basis that a score of 3 (implication = average) is hardly cause to crack open the champagne it’s hard to know whether to include this category with the 1’s and 2’s or the 4’s and 5’s. If you happen to have a large swathe of clients who give you an“average” score and you include them in the calculation on either basis, you could get a misleading result. Suffice to say a typical bell curve result is not the outcome you are looking for.
You now have 3 individual index scores in terms of meeting needs, being easy to deal with and enjoyment. To get your overall Client Experience Index, simply average the 3 scores. Track all 4 scores over time, perhaps repeating the survey annually to measure how client perceptions have changed.
What is a good score? In the absence of a reliable UK benchmark it’s hard to be definitive. A recent study in the U.S (across multiple industries and sectors) used the following definitions, which might be helpful
85%+ = “Excellent”
75% – 84% = “Good”
65% – 74% = “Okay”
55% – 64% = “Poor”
Below 55% = “Very Poor”
How confident are you that your results would be in the “good” or “excellent” category?