Before you leave, they make sure you know they want you to come back. After you have settled up, the maître d’ says, ‘Now you know where we are’. As in any business, the repeat customer is the best customer.
Why am I talking about a restaurant experience in a cost of living crisis? Because there is so much to learn from it, wherever you are pitching your business.
Your website and social media are opportunities to set expectations. Often, the fee and charging information is tucked away – if not in the small print, then certainly not upfront. But actually, whether you are upmarket or mass market, you can make it a feature.
As with the restaurant booking process, there is an opportunity to start building the relationship early on.
Many firms offer free initial consultations, which is great practice, but asking the client to do something beforehand can help to create their sense of ownership. 'We’d love to talk to you, but first we’d like you to think about X, Y and Z', or 'Before we meet, please take this short quiz to help you understand how you feel about money'.
Financial advice is as much art as science, so think about the messages you are sending.
If your clients come to your premises, what is their experience when they arrive? And does that represent who you are as a firm – whether that is a wealth manager trying to communicate the high-quality personal service you provide or a High Street adviser with a no-nonsense, low-fee, highly accessible brand.
Are the people your clients meet welcoming and human? If, as is the case with most firms today, your client base has become more diverse over time, has your team evolved to reflect that?
Then it is about giving the client the comforting sense of being in a thought-through process, from discovery to building the plan to recommending the portfolio and manager. Most firms have this process in place, but the best planners know how to create a sense of theatre from it.
And as with the restaurant, it all means nothing if the food – or the advice – is not good.
In this consumer duty world, it is not about price but about value, and value can exist anywhere on the premium to discounted spectrum. It is great to set expectations about where you lie on that spectrum – and then live up to them.
