Creating Value Your Clients Immediately Understand.
VALUE /ˈvalyo͞o/noun1. the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. similar: worth, advantage, benefit, profit, effectiveness, importance
Every business relationship is subjected to an ongoing examination of value. Nowhere is that more profound than in financial services, where the interaction between the client and financial advisor is centered around touchpoints and trust-building exercises; whether in-person events or frequency of conversation. Finances are extremely personal, shared with only the closest and trusted confidantes. The role wealth managers play in their clients’ lives is substantial, not unlike other professional service providers like physicians, attorneys, and tax accountants. But unlike these providers whose role in their clients’ lives are predicated on solving problems, investment professionals are expected to predict future problems, almost guiding the client relationship towards a solution in advance.
The implications of recent digital disruptions mean wealth advisors must work to eliminate any potential gaps in the value delivery chain that could introduce doubt into the relationship. To accomplish this, it is vital to manage investor experience and engagement. This is where our Wealth Management Value Delivery Pillars play an important role.
If you’ve ever had a challenge in articulating your value, or you simply want to take the perception of your value to the next level, this framework will help you to be more trusted and more referred to as the ‘go to’ wealth advisor in your respective market.
Navigating Value Delivery
Wealth Management Value Delivery Pillars represent how value is delivered, supported and experienced. When incorporated into the business relationship these pillars work to fortify value and close any potential gaps within the delivery chain.
- Pillar One: Product/Service Solution Promise
- Pillar Two: Business Delivery Functions
- Pillar Three: Customer Relationship Management
- Pillar Four: Product Solution Results
Value Delivery Systems
With the Wealth Management Value Delivery Pillars defined, the next step is to identify the value categories that allow us to view, understand and increase the value we deliver to our clients. Those value categories are Direct Value, Systemic Value and Enhanced Value.
Direct Value can be immediately felt and facilitated through personal contacts such as a phone call, proposal or sample report that might be of interest to the investor. Direct Value is contextual to the client and is based on the knowledge of your client’s needs and goals.
Systemic Value is the delivery of client goals and benefits across different stages of the relationship and encompasses the effective use of management and company resources. Systemic Value is where clients experience the overarching brand, firm or company‘s support and where investor experience effectively builds the relationship consistently over time.
Enhanced Value refers to additional tangible, emotional and practical benefits client’s experience, such as increased profits, greater personal freedom or access to networks. The ebb and flow of the market is expected. Enhanced value is an intentional activity that directly impacts referrals and longevity and reminds clients of why you are the advisor to stick with.
Application
The application of the Wealth Advisor Value Delivery Pillars yields game-changing results when applied to your business and clients. Without a clear framework for understanding value delivery in your business, you leave yourself more vulnerable to clients leaving and limiting your potential earnings.
Applying this starts with a simple but powerful question. What do our clients value more than anything else?
1. Capture the information
2. Integrate those benefits into your business
3. Communicate with your clients
4. Demonstrate understanding and results
5. Get feedback
If you incorporate these value pillars, you will be the advisor your clients never want to leave and others want to speak with.
About the Author
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Jermaine Edwards is an investor experience consultant for Informa's Zephyr. As founder of Customer Transformation Thinking and the Irreplaceable Advisory Group, he specializes in business and customer growth scalability, working across 33 industries including OEM, technology and finance. He is an Inc. Magazine featured customer growth author who has personally trained and delivered talks to over 4,000 customer leaders, executives and teams. He has a degree in German and Economics, and a master’s degree in behavioral psychology. Jermaine is invited by companies around the world like Gartner, Dell Technologies, London Business School and GE to create unique customer growth and loyalty strategies that make them irreplaceable in their market.