Impressionist

Meet & Greet

Sclafani tells of an advisor in Beverly Hills who keeps a personal valet stationed outside his office building each day. The valet has a list of who's coming to the office and the car they drive, so he is on the lookout for a person in a certain car at a certain time, and greets them. The valet then phones upstairs when the client is on the way up so that the receptionist is in place to greet the client when they arrive at the office. "That's the most high-awareness service I've ever seen," notes Sclafani. Your clients probably aren't expecting that level of service, but the way a visitor is greeted has a lot to do with the overall feel of the office. "The simple fact of greeting someone when they walk in the door is important," says Holman. Jordan concurs. "It's all about creating a 'wow' experience–our receptionist knows who is expected for which advisor, and will offer the client a beverage while they wait."

The right–or wrong–phone greeting can influence a client as well. "From time to time, we interview clients for advisors," says Sclafani. "Once, a client said to me that when the receptionist answered the phone, she didn't introduce herself and the client didn't know who she was speaking with." Sclafani stresses that clients, especially older ones, want to know whom they're talking to. "Introduce yourself–make it easy for the clients," he says.

As Holman points out, before a person becomes a client, an advisor is more likely to meet on the client's turf or in neutral territory, but when that person becomes a client, they're more likely to meet in the advisor's office. Therefore, for most of the relationship, meetings will be in the advisor's office. This is why the comfort and professional levels of the office environment significantly affect the way a client perceives you and your work, and how they will physically distinguish you from another advisor. One of the physical details mentioned by each advisor interviewed for this article was the importance of the office conference room. "Corporations are putting the resources into a central conference room and less into separate offices," says Sclafani. Holman agrees, "This also gets back down to the client experience and the image [an advisor] wants to portray. A lot of advisors use a centralized conference room because their office may not be a space where a CEO of a multimillion-dollar corporation would feel comfortable." Jordan stresses that he and his colleagues almost always meet new clients in the conference room, especially when the client brings another guest, such as an accountant. "The dynamic of a conference room is more neutral for the client," he says. "Most of our advisors also have a breakout table in their office for times when an advisor meets a client there," Jordan adds. Kramer points out the importance of the conference table as well. He holds all meetings in his office at a round 42-inch table. "One thing that's critical is the 42-inch table–it's the right distance for people to sit around a table comfortably," he says. "Any smaller is too intimate for a business meeting and any larger makes it difficult to speak without yelling at each other."

Although a certain level of professionalism is expected while in an advisor's office, most advisors agree that a relaxed, home-like feeling is the ideal. "We try to make it more comfortable–like people's homes," remarks Kramer, whose office is decorated with French doors, hardwood floors with rugs, and wallpaper. The chairs and couch in his waiting area also make it feel more like a living room. "We try to have a nice environment without being too ornate or overly pretentious," he says. Tom Henske, a partner at Lenox Financial Advisors in New York, agrees with making the environment less of an office and more of a comfort zone. In order to create that feeling, Henske keeps books for leisure reading on his shelf, as well as financial books, and pictures of his family on his desk. "The home-like feeling allows clients to drop their defenses immediately, getting past the process of having to make them do that in some other way," Henske says. "Then, we can get right to business."

The Overall Experience

With volatility in the markets, increased regulation, and constant competition for clients, there are many things advisors can't control. So why not influence the things that you can, especially when it comes to pleasing your clients? Making small changes to give your client the "wow" experience can set you apart from other advisors and make you a memorable professional in the lives of your clients, which may also lead to good referrals. "Perception is a lot of reality," Keeling points out. "You can be the best advisor on the planet, but if you're sloppy, your clients can't find a place to park, and it's difficult to find your office, that's going to affect how people perceive you," he concludes.