Now that you have lost the race to zero commissions, maybe it's time to focus on a race your clients will want you to win: The race to higher value.
Fewer than 20% of investors who work with advisors want you to win the low-cost race. That's because when they hear "low cost," they too often think "cheap." And an investor has too much at stake to follow cheap advice. In fact, 80% of investors tell us what they really want is "high-value" or "cost-efficient" investments.
In other words, they want good advice at a fair price.
How do you win the race to higher value? One way is to rethink your review meetings. We believe this is the single biggest opportunity available for you to provide more value to clients.
Did you know that 79% of advisor clients are dissatisfied with their current review meetings? According to our research, today's advisors spend a vast amount of time, money and resources on review meetings that decrease their perceived value to clients.
After nearly 10 years of strong market returns, it seems reasonable that clients would be excited to review the good news in their portfolio's performance. Unfortunately, it seems that many investors just aren't seeing enough value in their review meetings with their advisors.
Why? One reason might be that the reviews are scheduled on arbitrary dates — rather than, say, based on key developments in clients' lives — and focused on what you want to discuss, rather than what your client is currently focused on.
Many clients feel that review meetings are yours, not theirs.
How to Adjust
With a few modifications, you can make review meetings valuable to your clients. When done correctly, they'll leave those meetings feeling content that they have discussed those issues that mattered most to them.
Here are the three steps to follow to ensure your most impactful client review meetings:
1. Send a pre-meeting checklist.
Although clients don't want to do more work more than necessary, they do want to feel prepared. And they might not always recall everything that's happened since their last meeting with you. This could involve changes with their family situation, friends, financial goals or investment priorities from a year or more ago.
