This article is about value creation and why it is the key to happy, loyal clients and a thriving practice.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have had two services come up for renewal. One was my car breakdown cover and the other was my car insurance.
In both cases the premium had increased by almost 30% from last year. So, I rang both providers and invited them to reconsider their offer.
It was almost as though they were expecting the call because they both immediately lowered the premium and I saved over £300.
What does this have to do with value creation?
Well, it reminded me of when I was a financial adviser. One of the questions I used to ask my clients and potential clients was:
“Are you getting value on everything you spend your money on?”
If the client was open to it (and they tended to be because I shared stories like mine) we would go through their expenditure and apply the question.
Often, there would be easy ways clients could begin to make their money work better for them.
Things like more competitive premiums, cancelling unused subscriptions, and eliminating high interest debt are all easy wins.
Even if the savings were modest, it helped clients towards funding more important things, like their financial planning.
To me, it was one thing to give advice but helping clients to find the money to pay for it was adding value.
Creating value at every opportunity
The above is just one example of value creation. Many people might say this is just common sense, and I would agree.
Yet common sense is often not common practice.
A powerful thing I learned from my coach is to keep creating value for clients and do it at every opportunity.
What makes you stand out?
If you only offer what every other adviser is offering, even if your service is highly efficient, then what makes you any different?
You cannot afford to take your clients for granted and assume they will remain loyal.
Today’s trading environment is making it increasingly difficult for advisers and firms to make purely transactional financial advice profitable. It is those advisers who commit to creating value time after time that will continue to thrive.
How do you keep creating value?
You no doubt already have ways that you create value for your clients. Yet, truth is, we are only scratching at the surface because there are scores of ways.
In my webinar based ‘Client Engagement Masterclass’ (look out for the new programme coming soon) we do an exercise called, ’30 results from my work’.
This is when you list out at least thirty results that clients experience from your work.
These can be small or big results. They can include the impact in a client’s life, in the lives of their family and loved ones, their health, well-being and quality of life.
Then people share their lists and what you come away with is lots of new ideas that you can immediately begin to use.
Make it personal to each client
One of the keys to increasing the value of what you do is to make it personal to your client.
I expect we all receive standardised materials from the businesses we use, such as newsletters or offers. But the problem with most of this is that it is an attempt to sell you something and there is no love behind it.
Compare this to something that is personalised to a client and is designed to make a difference in their life.
There is no comparison.
The main point is to deliver value in surprising, unexpected ways and keep doing it at every opportunity.
P.S. At the core of creating value is understanding what is most important to your client. You should find ‘How to do a brilliant financial planning fact find’ helpful. Click here to read.
