A “Wow” Experience Is Not Enough

We have been told that to attract referrals and clients, we have to provide a “wow” experience. But that’s just not enough on which to base a business development or referral marketing plan.

Last week, I was discussing with an advisor his strategy for utilizing his client advisory board to generate referrals. During the conversation, he said “We have to make sure we deliver such a fantastic experience that the clients will tell everyone about us.” This is a philosophy I have heard many times. As a business development strategy, it has some serious shortcomings.

One issue, of course, is that there is no generally agreed upon definition of “wow.” Too often, when I have heard an advisor say this, they then went on to provide their own interpretation of “wow”, and that is one way to disappoint clients. What matters is that you exceeded the client’s expectations, not your expectations of what the client wants. And all clients are different. For that matter, how will employees understand what “wow” is? And how can they deliver it if they cannot clearly translate it into behavior?

I remember one time I established a new relationship with a bank. There was some form that I neglected to sign or something.  The manager, in her pursuit of delivering the “wow” experience, drove to my office to deliver it to me. My reaction was “Why is there a bank manager in my lobby? The mail would have done just fine. I don’t need to be interrupted right now.” My assistant went out to see her. She dedicated a meaningful portion of her day to drive something to my office, as testament no doubt to their dedication of delivering an outstanding customer experience.  And if it had any effect on my attitude toward the institution, it was mildly negative. She focused on her assumptions of a great experience and ignored my expectations.

The bigger issue of “wow” is that too many people say it. And, yes, most do not deliver it, but YOU do.  I know. But how will prospects know that? If a prospect interviews five advisors, and they all say they deliver an amazing client experience, how will that help the prospect to choose you?

If you dedicate yourself to consistently deliver “wow” how will you operationalize that? If you are committed to providing “wow” then you must have procedures around it and they must be measured. Much, much better to define exactly what your service comprises, and explain that to clients.  Better yet, ask them if that is how they would most like things to be handled. Then create processes to deliver  that consistently and manage to those processes.

If you commit to delivering a “wow” experience, you will thrill some clients and it will generate some referrals. People are attracted (and make referrals) to firms that represent specific solutions and experiences that particular clients seek. Define what those solutions and experiences are, and test them with clients. Once you have determined what the target clients’ expectations are, build processes to meet them consistently and exceed them periodically. Then you will have a performance goal all your employees and clients will appreciate, and that they will tell others about. And that will yield a much greater return than simply “wow.”

Some great tips on advisory boards from Marie Swift, and some lousy examples of value statements from RIABiz

I saw two articles worth mentioning  today - one for some good advice and one for examples of mistakes to avoid.

On the positive side, advisor marketing maven Marie Swift posted some tips on running a successful advisory board on the Garret Planning Network site.  I couldn't have said it better myself.  OK, maybe I would have said one thing differently: Marie recommends running your own advisory board meeting.  In my observation, that's a direct route to losing a lot of the value in gathering the group together. The advisor should be sitting with the clients, be part of thir tribe, and give the facilitation over to a third party. Ideally a trained facilitator, but at least someone who is not the advisor. I just had another conversation with an advisor yesterday who had a mediocre advisory board experience and little value from the conversation because he ran the meeting himself - and couldn't get one of his biggest clients to stop talking.  A trained facilitator would not have the same fears and conflicts, and could bring the other people into the conversation.

On the other hand, we have the article on RIABiz, How RIAs Describe Exactly What They Do in a Few Chocie Words, in which no one describes exactly what they do, and most take a lot of words to do it. In this article, Brooke Southall asks advisors to give him their elevator speeches.  He then dutifully prints them, but entirely without a critical eye toward their potential effectiveness.  Most discuss their role as a fiduciary, which is a great way to clear a ten-foot space around you at any cocktail party. And none offers any idea why the person they are talking to why they would be the best possible advisor for them. I am sure most of the respondents are professionals and provide great service to their clients. My objection is that all of their comments blithely ignore the central question on every prospects mind: What's in it for me? For some ideas on how to do this better, take a look at my post of last week. Brooke, RIABiz is a great blog - you can do better than this!

Have Two Elevator Speeches – One To Get Their Attention, One To Draw Them In

You probably have an elevator speech – a brief description of the benefits you deliver to clients that enables you to communicate the value of what you do so simply. (Ideally, worded as a solution.) I am going to suggest that you actually have two speeches, the first to get them to focus on you if they are prospective client, and the other to give them a reason to come talk to you.

To be effective, and elevator speech has to first break their attention and then communicate your value. If you have not successfully gotten their attention, no message will get through. We all have thoughts running through our head all the time. Frequently, it is not what we happen to be in a conversation about. It's the grocery list. Or the bad meeting we just left at work. Or the pretty girl across the room.

If we can break through those preoccupations, we can test for interest. If there is no interest, any message we deliver will be ineffective.

Here is the idea: have a short, direct statement to grab attention and test for interest. If you say "Freelancers come to me to help them assemble a benefits package like the one they had the corporate world" and they respond "Interesting. Was that Red Sox meltdown the most amazing fail you ever saw?" You know what you need to know – this new friend is not your target. And you have just spared both of you a pointless and unnecessary detailing of your work.

But, if they are in your target market, they may respond “Really? I thought I would have to leave benefits behind when I started consulting. How do you do that?" You now have their attention and they have qualified themselves. You have permission to tell them more, perhaps another three or four sentences. You can list a few challenges your clients face, and describe the unique expertise you offer to overcome them.

When I meet a new advisor, I like to ask “What do you do?" So many advisors have little idea how to communicate the value they deliver. Some have given it a little thought, and do a decent job describing what they do, but in a way I would find uncomfortably long if I had no interest.  Consider how you communicate your value proposition. Try 

To Connect With Prospects And Attract Referrals, Communicate Solutions – Not Methods

People care less about what you do and more about what they get.

When I asked advisors what they do, or what value they represent, too many describe the process they utilize and not enough describe solution they deliver. People won't send you a referral because you have a customized financial planning process and evaluate individual goals and generate recommendations tailored to client specific needs, and they won't send you a referral because you carefully monitor relationships between markets and rebalance portfolios based on proprietary protocols. They will provide a referral beause you provide a solution to a problem their friend has. People care less about what you do and more about what they get.

I believe the most powerful descriptions of the value advisors offer encapsulate the benefit a target prospect realizes by working with them. This requires, first, that you have a practical and well defined target market, but that's another post. Consider describing what you do worded as a solution from the client’s point of view. Complete this sentence “People like [describe target prospect] come to me for [solution that target market requires]. Consider these possibilities:

Corporate executives facing retirement in the next three years come to me because I show them the right choice on their retirement plan distributions.

Single professional mothers come to me to learn how to balance the demands of raising kids with the ability to afford college.

People who have saved enough to take care of themselves and want to use their savings to leave a mark on the world come to us to plan their legacy.

You can teach your clients statements of value like these, and they will repeat them to others when providing you a referral.

Don’t worry about answering the question “What do you do” with a sentence that starts out by describing your target client. You may think the person who asked you the question wants you to be the subject of the sentence, but you can much more effectively get their attention by describing the person you specialize in – especially if it is them.

When I ask advisors what they do, most often I hear versions of “I help people reach their financial goals” or “I manage people's portfolios to help reduce risk.”  Or “I give people peace of mind”. These are usually too general to be useful. And the bigger problem is that I don't think of my problems in those terms. I have just started a new business with one child in college, and am newly married, working on consolidating two households and have a three-year-old in the house for the first time in 14 years. You are NOT going to give me peace of mind.

People will come to get a solution, not to get a process. And people will remember to refer you because a friend mentions a problem that your client can plug your solution into, not because they like your process or because you have provided them returns to keep up with the market (even if it's with lower volatility).

If you stand for process you are a technician. If you represent a solution, you will attract clients and referrals who need a problem solved.