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One of the lyrics, one repeated over the course of the song, from the famous “Cheers” theme is “You wanna be where everybody knows your name.” Sounds like something to remember for businesses of all stripes. It’s a way of saying customers want to feel valued.
It’s also an expression as to why many shoppers will opt for small businesses even if it means paying up. Knowing all this, it’s arguably stunning that more businesses, regardless of size, don’t shed the treating customers like numbers methodology. That’s a long list and the non-advisor side of the financial services industry are particularly egregious offenders.
For example, you could be a client of a big bank for decades and if you closed all of your accounts tomorrow, the bank wouldn’t fight for your business. Maybe the bank would try to retain you if your investment account was north of $1 million. Otherwise, they’ll let you walk out the door.
It’s an interesting way of treating people because many banks are parent companies of wealth management firms with business models that are reliant on establishing rapport and trust with clients. There’s a lesson here for advisors: don’t treat clients the way a bank treats its depositors, credit cardholders, etc.
Make Clients Feel ‘Known’
Getting back to folks wanting to be where everyone knows their name, a recent study by fintech firm White Clay paints the picture of just how bad financial institutions (FI) are making customers feel known and valued.
“Roughly two-thirds of FI users (68%) do not feel truly known by their primary financial institution, with almost a third (31%) feeling like just another account number,” according to White Clay.
The percentages worsen for customers that use online-only banks, though there is improvement for those with access to community banks and credit unions. However, people living in well-populated areas probably won’t find a large number of community banks from which to choose. They’re all but stuck with the standard big names if they want a branch and those companies are, broadly speaking, poor at making customers feel warm fuzzy. But hey, they might have free lollipops at the teller’s station.
Point is many people feel as though they’ve never had what can be described as a “personal” relationship with a financial services firm and the data confirm as much.
“About 3 in 5 FI users (61%) report they have never had a personal relationship with their primary financial institution,” adds White Clay.
Another Lesson for Advisors
The White Clay data points above are basically big bank vs. community bank or credit union, but they’re instructive for advisors. After all, clients hire advisors meaning the advisors can also be fired. Consider the following.
“Half of FI users (50%) would consider switching their primary financial institution if another bank or credit union offered more personalized financial guidance,” observes White Clay.
Translation: Get to know your clients. Really get to know them. Show them they’re valued and anything but names in a database.