Ramp up Referral Quality with a Joint-Client Survey

A strategic alliance with another professional such as a CPA or attorney is a valuable asset to any referral strategy. Yet Julie Littlechild of Advisor Impact has an idea to make these relationships even more effective: a joint survey, both independently run and confidential, of both client bases.

"In this scenario," writes Littlechild of such a survey with a CPA, "you would conduct an independent survey of your clients, and the CPA would conduct an independent client survey of his or her clients. Each survey would reflect your own needs and objectives, but you would look for cross-selling opportunities for the CPA (e.g., valuation or corporate audit services), and the CPA would look for cross-selling opportunities for you (e.g., wealth management or estate planning)."

Armed with this information, both you and the other professional will be able to give referrals where there is true need for the others services.

Here is Littlechild's sample letter to a COI (center of influence) introducing the joint-survey idea:

Dear COI,

I'm writing to let you know about a client survey program I thought you would find of interest. We are looking at conducting a client audit, which is a tool that allows you to gauge client satisfaction and to identify specific cross-selling and referral opportunities.

I thought you would be interested to know that in addition to getting feedback on the service we are delivering, we are asking clients to rate their overall satisfaction with their accountants and expect to be in a position to send you several referrals as a result.

The firm that conducts the client audit also works with accountants, so I am attaching the brochure. If you are interested, I would be happy to make an introduction and would be very interested in talking about how we can structure both of our surveys to gather feedback that would allow us to provide more focused, needs-based referrals to one another.

I'll follow up in the next week to discuss the idea further, but please don't hesitate to call if you have any immediate questions.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

For more ways you can use surveys to improve your referral strategy, see Littlechild's full Horsesmouth article, here (free registration required).

One Good Thing About the Down Market...

People are talking about money. It's certainly not happy talk, but their finances are on their minds, and this is something you can use to your advantage. Your clients have had their ears talked off, no doubt, by friends and associates who are dissatisfied with their current advisor and who are hungry for quality advice. Consequently, many of your clients' radars are chock full of referral possibilities right now. Now is the time to bring up the subject of referrals.

Matt Anderson of the Referral Authority has just the script for such conversations. As he points out, the key is to ask open ended questions and to get your clients to be specific:

You: You know, it's been real interesting. We're finding that most folks don't talk about their money with their friends and family when the market is good. However, when the market goes down as we've experienced lately and investors are fearful, everybody seems to be talking about their money. (Now be genuinely curious.) Are you finding the same thing? (An alternative question that also works is, "Who have you heard talking about it?")

(Pause to allow your client to elaborate.)

You: What are you hearing?

(Let your clients talk and hopefully mention specific people they have talked to recently. If they don't mention names, be genuinely curious and say: Was this a client of yours? Someone in your family?)

You: It's interesting: We have been adding new clients lately as a result of some of these conversations. I attribute it to the fact that a lot of financial advisors are not returning client phone calls or simply going out of business.

(Follow up the last comment with a small anecdote, such as: "I got a new client a couple of weeks ago whose financial advisor happened to be his own uncle-but after three unreturned calls, he got fed up and contacted me.")

You: "You mentioned David, your client who owns the IT company. Do you think he might appreciate having a conversation with us? We'd be happy to share with him our views about the market or even possibly provide a second opinion to make sure his assets are properly positioned."

(Provided your client says anything other than no, continue on.)

You: What would be the best way to find out if he might be interested? Would you mind asking him or shooting him an e-mail to see if he'd be interested in a quick conversation?

If you've been good about showing your value and addressing client concerns during the down market, this script can be very effective. Be sure to read Matt's entire Horsesmouth article (free registration required) to learn more ways you can enrich the conversation.