Adding the personal touch to wealth management
Over the past two and a half years, my business model has been turned on its head. Like the rest of the world, I went from connecting with colleagues and clients, existing or prospective, at conferences, meetings and happy hours, to scheduling video calls and finding ways to build relationships in a completely virtual manner.
As the founder of a marketing firm for wealth-management groups, I’ve recently started travelling again, and the excitement felt from being back in person is palpable. But I’m not ready to give up everything I’ve learnt since the start of 2020.
Even before the Covid outbreak, I touted the need for more personalisation in wealth management. Telling your clients that you have a “holistic” approach to investment, and that you have “robust solutions” to meet their needs does not make you stand out from the crowd. It only makes you blend in.
And in developing personalisation, wealth managers should learn from luxury brands. High-net-worth investors are familiar with these companies, and comfortable with their approaches to marketing as a “client experience”. They sell to individuals based on past interactions and purchases, with accessible store and online experiences.
Take the jewellery store Tiffany. A person can walk into any Tiffany store and expect a certain quality of service, as well as a unified look. Every purchase is packaged in a blue box unique to Tiffany. Each buyer is made to feel they are getting special treatment, whether they are buying a simple ring or an extravagant necklace. A salesperson will enquire about the individual’s needs, and follow up with a handwritten thank-you note, reflecting details heard in their sales conversations. Who wouldn’t want that service?
That kind of openness in communication can be more readily developed by wealth managers in the post-Covid world than previously. A survey by the Certified Financial Planners board, a US industry grouping, revealed that, at the start of the pandemic, there was a surge in investors reaching out to their advisers, seeking guidance on how to weather the storm. With a recession facing us, this kind of regular conversations will continue in the coming year.
In the past, conversations with investors were limited to phone calls and annual office meetings. Now, clients and advisers are easily accessible over video calls, meaning that short, regular contacts can happen more frequently than in the past, making interactions more of a dialogue.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:April Rudin
