Improving Financial Advice with Strategic Client Touchpoints

So grab a coffee , sit back and let's get ready to blast off . I'm your host , frans van der Toij . I believe that whatever you want to improve , you have to be intentional . Now , what does it mean to be intentional ? You know it doesn't really help us . Just letting things happen .

You know , let the water flow where it wants to flow and let's see what happens tomorrow and after . This thing will sort itself out . That is one way of going about it , but a very different way is if we are intentional . That is one way of going about it , but a very different way is if we are intentional .

Now , when you are intentional , it doesn't mean that you are going to be successful . Let me just put that out there as well . Being intentional does not mean that you can control anything or control any of the outcomes or any of that . The difference is that when you are intentional , you know exactly why you're doing something .

You know exactly where and when you're doing something . You know exactly who's going to be doing it . You know what the intended outcome is that you are trying to achieve with this . So it means that you're laser focused . It means that you're aligned . It means that things are going to happen very differently from when we don't do it that way .

So really important that you know . I believe that we need to be intentional . You don't need to be intentional in every single aspect of your life and your business . I do believe that there are some critical parts where we definitely need to be intentional .

So today is all about how do you improve the entire client experience and the outcomes and everything by focusing on strategic touch points with the client , because there's always this thing around the human part of it and the technology part of it , and how do they play together and when do I human and when do I tech ? I've spoken about this quite a bit .

I've written about it recently as well , but it is really something that we need to consider . So that's what today is about . I want to get a little bit into that and just to sort of share with you some of my thoughts and , as I mentioned , please , you know , in the comments , do share back with us as well about your thoughts on this .

So some of the things I want to uncover today is just to sort of look at , you know , how the interactions can work together , maybe how do we use technology effectively with everything , and also just maybe some practical steps that I'll share towards the end .

But when we are intentional , specifically in the context of financial advising , it just means that you know , I have thought about my engagement with the client . I've thought about what is it that I want the client to feel ?

But also , just because I want the client to feel something every time that they interact with us , or by the end of an engagement , or by the end of the journey , or by the end of that phase of this doesn't mean that that's what the client is looking for .

So it's also very important to always check in with the client to see you know how do you want to feel by the end of this doesn't mean that that's what the client is looking for . So it's also very important to always check in with the client to see you know how do you want to feel by the end of this meeting , because that's what experience is .

Experience is a feeling you get when you go and visit a restaurant or you go for skydiving or a hot air balloon trip or you go on a holiday . The experience that when you say you had a fantastic experience , it's because you had fantastic emotions during the trip .

Just think about this If everything went wrong and you felt miserable and you were frustrated , then the experience was bad . But if you were excited and you were happy and you can't wait for the next one , you know those are all feelings and that's what creates the experience .

So when we refer to experience , it's not that all the boxes were ticked and that all the service was great and that , you know , the food was great and all of those things . It's the experience and the emotions that went with that . That really sort of brings that to the fore . So we've got to think about that in all of our businesses .

Specifically if you're in a service business , you know . I mean even I think when people are buying and selling goods , there's also an element of that . You know , the other day we had to go and buy a couch .

Then the experience at one place was very different to the experience at the other place and with the one place we felt confident , we felt happy , we felt like these people care . So that was the experience . That's the place that we went with . So all of those little things are important .

Doesn't matter what type of business you're in , but I think particularly in service , because when you deliver a service , it's not often that you have something to hold in your hand to show for it . It's just something that was done on your behalf . So just thinking about those are really important .

So one of the things that we need to do is to really try and identify key value adding moments in the journey , and I think the biggest part of this is that you know , particularly depending on how big your practice is , how long you've been going , where you are in your journey . All of those things will have an impact .

But it's taking the time to do these things , and I think the other challenge that we sometimes have is that we want to do this , but we feel like we've got to sit down , start and finish it One sitting . So if it takes me a week , it takes me a week .

If it takes me a day , it takes me a day , and we don't have to do that , because that is exactly the thing that is keeping us from getting started in the first place . So you want to make sure that you don't do that .

You spend an hour a day , an hour a week for that matter , or you know , I don't know an hour on a weekend to sort of look at this and just think through this . But the first thing that you need to do you have to visually be able to see the client journey .

So this is from the very first time that somebody starts looking for you or someone like you , to finding you , to starting to connect with you , to meet with you , going through all the way through , to onboarding them , to giving them the advice , and to start monitoring and reviewing and build an ongoing relationship with them and be on that journey .

So it's really a very , very long journey with a lot of different sort of points that we need to cross , and also the clients will be at very different places at that point in time in their mind .

But as well as you know whether they trust you , whether they feel like they can work with you , you know , and even then after that , we do run the risk of obviously losing that . So mapping out the client journey is one of the most important aspects that we have to do .

So you can write it down as a list of things or you can just draw little pictures , almost like a flow diagram kind of thing , just to say , well , this is what happens , then this happens and this happens . So those are the major steps . No-transcript be online . I can promise you that they might get a referral as well .

Somebody might say to them that you know what you need to speak to to . You know Sue or someone , but then they will still go and have a look , and we all know that We've spoken about this quite a bit .

But all of those things , you've got to think about these things in detail and if you don't highlight these things visually , you're going to miss little steps , because there are certain places . Just think about this when you go .

And when I had to go for to go look for a couch , right , I was walking through the shop . It's just furniture and appliances and people everywhere . It was absolutely like crazy . Actually , it's pretty much like when you go online . It's the same thing .

So I walked through there and looked at different things , but at some point I needed to talk to someone , so when I decided it's either that one or that one , or maybe that one , then I needed to start talking to people to find to someone .

So when I decided it's either that one or that one , or maybe that one , then I needed to start talking to people to find out more . You know what is happening , what is the price . You know what's the delivery Like .

There was a whole host of things that I didn't know about the Scouts and whether this is in fact a good bike or just because it looks good doesn't mean it's quality . So I needed to find out that from somebody that was there . It's not something I could tell from just looking at it .

And it's pretty much for me the same analogy when you think about financial advice . At some point there has to be human interaction so that somebody can get peace of mind that this is somebody that I can and want to work with , or at least explore the option of working with them , and this is why these things are so , so important .

So you have to map it out . And the beauty about these things specifically , if you do it digitally , it's so easy to adjust it and to add things and to take things out . So it's really , really cool the way that you can do that . But I will start with this on a flip chart or a whiteboard or something like that .

It's amazing when you have something that you can literally step away from and look at from a distance it's like amazing how that is and also writing with your hand . There's something that happens from your brain to the page . So start with that and then make it converted to a digital thing .

But I want to highlight just a couple of which might , may or may not be for you a critical touch point or a critical moment during the journey , if we just think this whole end-to-end journey from , let's say , from prospecting to onboarding , to advice , through to review and all of those things .

So obviously think about one of the most critical touch points , when you get a sense of whether you're on the right track or not . Is that initial inquiry or that first contact . Excuse me , is that initial inquiry or contact ?

That is something where you want to be as sleek as possible , so you want somebody to be able to contact you digitally , but you want to get back to them one quickly and you want to get back to them in person and then at least try to contact them right If they give you that kind of information .

So you also need to be thinking about what are the options that you give them when they contact you . Do you ask them how do you want us to get back to you ? Do you want us to reply by email ? Do you want us to send you a WhatsApp ? Do you want us to call you ?

What do you want us to do , and do you have sufficient information then to be able to do so , to be talking to each other , instead of having technology in that , you've got to make sure that , in that , you're clear , that you show empathy and the responses are thoughtful and informative . From that point , so it's really really important .

The next one , the next big one , is obviously the onboarding process , because , remember , now the client is going on a journey of oh , this is new to me or they come from a place where they didn't have a good experience , or they didn't have a bad experience where they were , but they felt like they were looking for something more or something else .

Or maybe you just happened to convince this person to come and talk to you and now they decide to move . So it's a big moment for them and there's lots of things that we are asking for and that we need Now , again , with onboarding . I think there are things that are factual , that's black and white , that's brain dead .

Think about all the demographical information and those kinds of things . I think those ones are quite useful to automate or to at least digitize Maybe not automate but to digitize . And then the other part of it . This is where you want to get to know the person who's sitting across from you from the table .

That's where you want to spend eyeball to eyeball time having a conversation , asking questions , really getting to understand you know that person and what it is that they are about and what it is that they're really looking for .

So the onboarding process , you know , throughout , there are definitely specific touch points in the onboarding process that tech could do for you . So think about the . Send me your id , send me your fika , send me this , send me that , give us all your names and you know all those kinds of things . Tech can do that .

But the conversations that we need in order to determine good fit , in order to set the context for the rest of of the , that's very important . Then , obviously , when we get into because for me the process goes , let's just say there's prospecting , then there's the good fit and there's a meeting or onboarding where we decide to work together .

The next part then is your initial financial advice , and it's not like we part . Then is your initial financial advice , and it's not like we expend advice on an ongoing basis .

It's more like there's the advice , here's the plan , and then you just monitor that plan and do tweaks to the plan and then every now and then something will change dramatically , which means we've got to rework the plan . Those things happen , but it's not , you know , with all your clients , it's with some of your clients .

So those initial sit down , doing the , getting the plan to them , etc . Those things are really also a very valuable point for them and the way that we convey that information is going to be very important . You're also going to be thoughtful and intentional about the way that you conduct that Right .

So so far we've got initial contact , I've got the onboarding process . The areas that's not black and white , the gray areas those are the ones that I think is very valuable for human interaction . And then , obviously , delivering the plan , explaining the plan and those kinds of things and getting to agree and engage around that plan is important . No-transcript .

But for me , there's two ways to go about it . You can either be very intentional about having a goal setting conversation and go through a process to do goal setting , or you have a process of just having a discussion with the client and sort of uncovering those throughout the conversation .

What could be very valuable in a goal setting situation or session is that you want to prioritize things . So it's really understanding about which of these things are more important . They might all be important , but they're not equally important .

So again , it's something that you have to discuss with the client , because there's some things that you just won't if you just send that to the client say look , I mean from our discussions we realized that you want to do X , y and Z . Please tell us which one of these are most important and you can respond to us on email .

Like you know , that's such a lost opportunity because every time that we interact with clients , we get to reinforce , we get to inform , we get to educate you know you need to or you get that opportunity to make them comfortable and so that they can learn and so that they feel they can have a conversation , ask questions about the thing .

So be intentional about don't see it as a time waste . It's really something that's extremely valuable . Obviously , review meetings you know , I think it's really something that's extremely valuable . Obviously , review meetings , you know , I think it's very interesting .

I was speaking to somebody recently who was talking me through their review process and how they use the system to actually do that and set up the review meeting .

But a month before the last interaction of that entire automated process is a person calling the client because they're not really giving the client an option of do you want the meeting or don't you want the meeting .

I think there's many of us that you know , with a certain part of the of the client base , you don't want to have a meeting because there's nothing to discuss , there's nothing new , they're not going to do anything else and they don don't want to see you and you don't want to waste your time .

But you really think about that human interaction around the review and to talk to them about the review is extremely valuable . Repositioning it , understanding and say , look , this time we've got something else to discuss with you . We looked at your tax and we find that there might be an opportunity for you .

And we find that there might be an opportunity for you we sort of have had a look at this and we see that we're falling behind on certain things . We've got to have a discussion around that . So give them a reason to come and see you , because you know , staying up to date , what's happening in their lives are quite important .

So those are also very , very important . And then , something that we probably don't do enough and you can let me know in the chat who of you do that is a proactive check-in . Just you plan it but it's completely unexpected to the client and this is not sending an email saying hello , francho , I'm looking , I just want to hear how you are .

You can do that with , let's say , that , if you segment your client base , which we spoke about recently at the amateur webinar , if you can do that and you can send through an email to say , look , I just want to check in with you , that's fine .

But there's also another part of your client base where you should be picking up the phone and phoning them , and often then , just seeing that you try to call means something . Think about birthdays how many of you are still phoning somebody on their birthday ?

And I do that , like I some people , I phone some people I send video notes to , and some I send a voice note and some I just send a message , because it does depend on the time , it does depend on sort of where where the relationship is and those kinds of things . It's reality , right .

So we can't phone every single person , but are you clear on the ones that you do want to pick up the phone ? And maybe you don't phone some of them , but maybe someone from your team phones it's still somebody from your business . I see it's your birthday . It's fantastic . Well , you know , congratulations and all of that good stuff .

But proactive check-ins is just hey , man , we were thinking of you . Just want to see how you are doing . Is there anything Not to say ? Is there anything you need from us ? None of that stuff . Just be interested in the other person and just check in . You will be amazed . Or just even phoning and to say thank you for being a client of ours .

We really want to appreciate that . We don't think that we say that to you enough . So those are the kinds of things that are extremely valuable that we can do . Right ? So those are some of the valuable touch points . I hope that you made some notes on that . I know I'm talking very fast , right ?

So the next part is obviously how do we use technology to enhance the client experience on this ? Already , in the sense that for me , technology is great for the black and white stuff , the brain dead stuff , the repetitive stuff , the stuff we need but nobody really cares about you know , kind of thing . So that's important .

So those are the places we can use technology setting reminders , doing specific kinds of communication . Those kinds of things can really be valuable , specifically if you again segment your client base and there's some that you only use technology for because it makes it then profitable to service them .

You can't be phoning people where you earn 50 Rand a month from or 600 Rand for the year . It's not profitable to pick up the phone and phone them . By the time you phone the fifth one , you're in such a loss that you won't make it up .

So think about where you can employ technology and just some of the things where you can really start thinking about this . And we know this , but I do want to mention it again CRMs can be extremely useful . You know it's very interesting to me . There's a particular CRM system which I'm not going to mention , but a lot of people feel it's not great .

But the ones who use it and who really customize it to their needs thinks it's the most fantastic thing in the world . And that's again my question to you Are you using your CRM to the best of its ability ? Are you partnering with your software provider to help you get the most out of their system ?

It's in their best interest to do that , but it's also in your best interest . You are investing money into this , so it's your responsibility to go and learn as much as possible . If I say you , I mean your business's responsibility . So whoever is in your team needs to know . You need to know the things that you need to know .

For me , if you're the business owner or the head of the practice , you have to know what's possible . It doesn't mean you need to know how to do it . But if you don't know what's possible , how do you direct the business ? How do you say , sue , we need to start a project to do this , like , how are you going to do that if you don't know what's possible ?

So you also can't not be interested , right , be interested right . And I guess , yes , you can appoint somebody who's head of technology and just do those kinds of things , but in a small business , that's very unlikely to happen .

So think about your CRM systems , because it's not just a CRM system from a point of view that you have names and numbers and email addresses . It's about the information that you put in there .

It's about the alerts you set up , it's about the things you want the system to watch for you , to let you know in time so that you can respond appropriately at the appropriate time . That's very important , right ? So CRM systems are definitely there to help . Some of them have built-in functionality to automate things and to communicate from there .

There's lots of different things . Obviously , financial planning software had a very interesting discussion , by the way , and this is something that is quite interesting to me .

Like a few years ago , robo-advice was a big thing and everybody thought that robo-advice was going to take over the world almost , and now , like , it's a very small percentage , very , very small percentage , and I think the only reason for that is that , of course , clients still want to have a conversation with another human being that can say yes or no , you're

doing the right thing or not . Robo-advice is great for people who are starting off and they've got small amounts , but as soon as those amounts get bigger and bigger and bigger and there's more risk involved and if they make a mistake they will lose more . Then they tend to shy away from those kinds of things . They want to talk to a human .

But I think that robo-advice is going to make a massive comeback and I'll tell you when and why it will make a comeback and you've got to think about this in your business .

It will make a comeback when you in your financial planning practice , have a solution that you can use to automate transacting once you've spoken to a client , or even have a way of saying to a certain part of your client base that you know this is what you can do and you take them through a bit of a process and they can get started .

So it's not worth your while to really spend a lot of time with them . It doesn't mean that you don't want to spend time with them , but you can't spend lots of time with them . But then they have a way to do this .

So a solution where that robo-advisor is yours and it transacts on your code with your providers and it automates that transacting for that lower end of your client base . I think there's still an opportunity there and it's also interesting if you look at some of the stats that people are definitely looking at that and interested in that .

So you've got to start thinking about those things . So that's the other part of technology . So financial planning software is not just the cash flow planning and the goals-based planning and those kinds of things . There's other things that you can go look at . How can you make it easier for certain segments of your clients , because that's also important .

If you don't understand how your client base is made up , it's going to be hard to say where can we use technology effectively as well ? I don't know . My verdict is still out on client portals . I as long as those client portals are also connected directly into your CRM . It should just be the client facing part of your CRM , basically in my mind .

So that's one thing . I think the other things that are really important if you think about communication tools and things how do we communicate ? What options do we offer clients ? And it's not just about I mean I'm having a lot more meetings in person .

In fact , after this , I made it off to Belleville to go have a meeting in person , so it's changing back to that , but I also still have a lot of meetings that's virtual . So think about those things and which of those tools are giving the best experience and which of those tools are people most comfortable

with ? You know , sometimes we find because I know , um , sometimes we want to be rebels and we don't want to use the things that everybody else are using . We want to use this weird and wonderful thing which we believe is fantastic , but nobody else knows how to use it .

We make it difficult , so you also want to remove that friction from there , um , but those are the kinds of things that I think , from a technology point of view , if you start looking at those different touch points and you look at the touch points where you don't need to human , which of these things can you use in those places to make it easier ?

Now , there's plenty of other things that we can talk about here which I'm not going to just for the sake of time . What do you want to avoid in client interactions ? This is really important . The first thing , which I think I've already said , but let me just be clear on this is the over-reliance on technology .

Yes , if you build your business that you are virtual first or virtual only , and highly digital , then that's fantastic , very interesting thing I don't know who of you know about Dosh Guide ? So Dosh Guide is a service that , for people that are looking for financial advice , that then connect them to the appropriate financial advisor . That's fee only , right .

So they just charge fees , they invoice . There's no AUM , there's no commissions , there's no nothing . That's what they do .

So they have a panel of advisors , but they are , like you know , sort of a , let's say , when people start looking for this , then they would come up as a solution and they would then position themselves and they play that middleman to connect the people to each other . Even in that instance , you would think that that's the Uber of financial advice .

Right , because it's connecting people , et cetera , et cetera . But there's no over-reliance on technology . All technology is doing is fostering the connection and the lineup . It's like Coupler as well . Coupler AI does exactly the same thing , but after that it's human to human . So don't over-rely on technology .

Also , not thinking about the personal touch , in other words , for me that means you're not really present . When you're having a conversation or when you're having a meeting , you're not really present . You're really just pushing for efficiency and productivity and doing as much as possible in the shortest amount of time .

That's really not what you want to be doing , because now you're cutting out the meaningful parts of that interaction for the sake of being more productive or profitable or efficient or whatever it is . Another example of that is saying well , I want to do this in one or two meetings , I can't do three or four meetings .

It's just not , doesn't work in my process . Maybe then the process needs to change . But again , it's your business , it depends on that . But just understand that you can't have personal touch and be super efficient to the fact that Toyota is applauding you for your efficiency and then also failing to listen to client needs . This is a very important thing .

We've got to keep on asking clients . I think I mentioned this a little bit earlier . We can think that this is how we want to make a client feel . We would love for clients to feel like this every time that they've had a meeting with us , but that doesn't mean that's what they're looking for .

So we need to keep asking them like how do you want to feel by the end of this meeting ? What is important to you ? That expectation alignment is so important ?

So if we don't listen to people's client , to client's needs , we are going to do things that we think are important and that we think they want , and it might be something completely different from what they're wanting and there's going to be a misalignment and a disconnect there , uh as well , so , uh , so . So those are definitely thing things that is important .

So , if you want to maintain sort of a balance between the two , think about how you integrate technology . Be thoughtful about that . Also , schedule regular but unhurried meetings , so just give people the time to talk , have a discussion , and this goes , I think , for your team as well it's not just for you and your client .

Also think about internally All the other things that are so important to actively listen and to respond and check back and ask great open questions those kinds of things is important .

Then , one thing that I learned from Mariette a couple of years back when she completed her transition as planning thing , was that you've got to ask a client how do they want to be communicated with ? It's such an important aspect and something that we never do , so you want to customize the communication with them .

Make sure that you talk in a way that is for them , that they want to be talked to . You know , some people are very formal , some people are very informal and friendly and just informal , not informal , informal , and that's what they prefer . So are you customizing this and you're going to sit there and say , holy word , how do I do this ?

Well , technology is a big way to help you with that , but you want to customize the way that you communicate , when you communicate , through which channels you communicate . So there's quite a few things there . Then , also , you've got to always say well , this isn't the thing we are continuously improving .

If I think just about our show , the only thing that went a little bit backwards this year is the studio . But after next week the studio will be back , I hope . But every year we try and make it better . So the format , we look at the jingles , we look at the opening scenes All of these things are important to us .

The quality , like the equipment , like everything needs to be a little bit better every year . So it's about that continuous improvement . But it's also about listening to what people are looking for and what they enjoy and what they don't enjoy , and then using that to guide you on your on your next step .

Okay , so I'm gonna release like a document which I will make available . You can look . If you're not connected with me on LinkedIn . Please connect with me on LinkedIn . I will share it on LinkedIn of how you can maximize value in the advice process .

So what I'll do is I'll break down some of the advice process stages and then in there I will just sort of suggest some specific actions and things that you can use . So have a lookout for that as well . So we will distribute that and make that available just to sort of help you more from a practical point of view .

That document will also include , you know , not just the value that you can add during the different phases , but also how do you implement this . So we'll include both of those in that document . So I think today's discussion is quite an eye-opening thing . As much as I tell you that these are some of the things I think you should be looking at .

I'm looking at this myself in my business . So it's really important that we focus and that we intentional and that we look for those moments where we can add more value .

And I know that I'm falling short in a lot of those places from what we do , simply because maybe it's a resource issue , maybe it's a focus issue , maybe it's just because I'm not too intentional in certain areas , but these are things that we should all be working on and that we should all be focused on , and I'm really excited to see where things go and to

hear sort of you know which of these things are you going to tackle and sort of look at . But yeah , that's a fantastic episode , I think , something to get the juices going . So let's just see . So Quibus says I use video , whatsapp , birthday messages Fantastic . Frank says I was sending clients a personal message .

Digital birthday card and call makes such a difference . And also , I think you do a lot of coffee . Yes , also , consider a coffee with a slice of cake and enjoy those special . Now let me tell you what frank did to me .

I'll say to me with me , I'm not sure frank , but I didn't see him , and we were sitting in , uh , adopio zero there in Pretoria , and the next moment , yes , frank . And then Frank leaves and oh , thank you , it was so awesome to see you in person . Blah , blah , blah .

And we were sitting there and the next moment , here comes the waiter with coffee and a slice of cake , and it was just like Frank , you either get me or you're very like . Yeah , it was amazing . Anyway . So it's small things that make a big difference where we can think about this Again .

You can't take all your clients for coffee and cake , but the ones that you really feel like you want to do . That it makes a massive difference . I'm just saying I like the coffee and cake idea , says Yonita . Terrence is always raising the bar trying . Well done , man , love the show . Thank Brian . Well done , man , love the show .

Thank you very much , terrence , frank . Dear Anita , you are most welcome . I love the insights in the heartfelt session . Thank you very much , frank . We are definitely in the people business and Liana says thanks . Insightful , cindy , very helpful . Thank you , and I absolutely agree with you , terrence , love the wisdom and care . Thank you very much .

If you haven't subscribed yet to the show , I left this right until the end . Let's see you watch us to the end . Please do subscribe , we really appreciate it . And , like this video , share it with others , tell people on social media what we are talking about and maybe something that you found insightful .

If you have any feedback for us , please do let us know . But on that note , thank you . Have a fantastic weekend , stay safe , be blessed and prosper and continue to raise the bar . Love you lots . Bye-bye , all right , folks . That's a wrap for this episode of Propulsion . I hope you got as much out of this as I did .

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