My First Client Advisory Board Roundtable: What I Asked

Commentary May 23, 2011 at 09:48 AM
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I recently conducted my first-ever client roundtable meeting. In my most recent blog, I wrote about the process of the meeting. In this post, I will discuss the results of the meeting as revealed from a survey questionnaire which was presented to each attendee. I'll also share a few comments which, I hope, may help you in your endeavors as an independent advisor.

In all of the following, the rankings ranged from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important).

Existing or Potential New Services

Part of the evening was spent asking clients to rank some existing and/or possible new services.

Here are the results:

Financial Planning                                    5.0

Financial Planning Updates                      4.9

Identity Theft Protection                            3.6

Holding Annual Family Meetings               3.3

Resolving IRS Issues                                3.1

Recommending Debt Reduction
Strategies                                                 3.1

Backing Up their Computers'
Hard Drives                                              3.0

Coordinating With
Other Professionals                                  2.8

Helping with their Social Security
Retirement dDecision                                2.8

Shopping for the Best Loan Deals            2.6

Other potential services mentioned         <2.5

Before I disclose the rest of the survey, some of you may be wondering why I am deviating so far from the traditional asset management services. I tell prospective clients that I am not your typical advisor. I'm really trying to position myself as the guy who takes a comprehensive approach to wealth management. Why identity theft protection, for example? Because having your identity

stolen is a threat to someone's wealth and I can offer clients a significant discount through a national service.

Qualities of an Advisor

Another part of the survey asked clients to rank the qualities they valued in an advisor using the same 1 (not valued) to 5 (most highly valued) ranking. Here are the results

Experience                                         5.0

Honesty                                              5.0

Explain Things Clearly                        4.8

Stay Knowledgeable
And Current                                       4.8

Easy to Work With                             4.4

Willing to Spend Ample Time             4.4

Meet on a Regular Basis                   4.3

Willing and Able to
Educate Them                                   4.0

Me and My Business

Another part of the survey asked clients to rank certain aspects about me or my business model. Here are the results:

My Accessibility                                 5.0

My Business Model*                          4.4

My Designations                               3.9

My Monthly Newsletter                      3.8

*I intentionally work with a smaller number of clients so I can provide a higher level of service

Areas of Financial Planning Analysis

Here are the results:

Annual Net Worth Statements          4.8

Net Worth Projections                      4.8

Determining Their Critical
Capital Required                              4.8

Determining Their Probability
of Running Out of Money                 4.7

Determining Their Required
Rate of Return                                  4.3

Determining the Probability of
Negative Investment Returns            4.1

There was a little more data to share, but we'll leave it there until next time.

Have a great week and thanks for reading!

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