Advisor Forum preview: Clients get their say

(November 3, 2004) Clients are generally satisfied with their financial advisor, according to a comprehensive cross-border study. But the same study suggests advisors are under-resourced and having a difficult time meeting client contact goals.

Julia Littlechild of Advisor Impact surveyed 6,500 clients of advisors in Canada and the U.S. in partnership with Moss Adams. She’s presenting key highlights of the “client audit” at the Advisor Forum conference series, which makes a stop in Calgary next week (November 9 and 10).

“We decided to tap into client attitudes this year because if a client relationship is optimized and the potential of that relationship is fully tapped, that allows us to retain and grow the relationship,” says Littlechild.

The good news is that clients are generally satisfied with their advisor, getting an average 4.6 out of 5 overall rating, Littlechild says. However, those numbers could be slightly skewed, considering the clients involved had advisors who were willing to survey them. “If we surveyed those who were unwilling, we might have found some differences,” she concedes.

Only 7% of clients rated their advisor less than 3 out of 5, but that means advisors with that low rating risk losing those clients, Littlechild suggests. “It may not mean they are actively looking for a new advisor, but if they get the call, they might take that call,” she says.

The survey also found that advisors are meeting client expectations of contact and responsiveness. But some advisors may be setting the bar too high.

“The average advisor would have to put 70% of their time into direct client contact in order to reach their goals,” Littlechild says. “So that’s why we reach the conclusion that as an industry we are over capacity. We’ve grown client bases and set goals that make it physically impossible to deliver.”

Solutions to that problem might include cutting back on face-to-face meetings and using phone or e-mail more frequently, Littlechild says, or delegating responsibility to junior advisors or associates.

“Clients don’t love you that much,” she says. “Nearly 60% say they’re comfortable discussing their investments with someone on the team other than the senior advisor.”

Littlechild will present more details of her extensive client survey at the upcoming Advisor Forum conferences in Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto. For more information on when Advisor Forum comes to a city near you, please click here.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, doug.watt@advisor.rogers.com