Walt Disney said it best when he said, Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it they will want to come back and see you do it again and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.
Imagine what a financial advisors practice would look like if Disney was in charge of the marketing.
The mission of Walt Disney in 1955 was simple: We create happiness. Years later, it still holds true. From cast members personally escorting you to a desired location to volunteering to take a picture with your camera so you can be in the picture with your family, everything is focused on the guest experience.
With Disneys hyper-focus on guests as inspiration, here are a few ways advisors can create an even better client experience:
1. Every team member should know the number one job is to make people happy by providing them with a memorable experience. Some ideas for advisors:
- Recognize every important milestone in a clients life -- a birthday phone call, a house warming gift, a wedding present and a celebration of the birth of a new family member.
- Write letters at Thanksgiving expressing gratitude and appreciation for your clients and your team.
- Make clients feel like family by remembering as many of the little things as possible. Look for ways to celebrate that are meaningful to clients.
- Referral etiquette: Both the new client and the referring client should get something unique to say thank you.
2. The complex should be made as simple as possible. A few ideas:
- Estate plans should be flowcharted, color-coded and presented on one page.
- Diagrams and graphs should accompany text, so the plan can be easily understood.
- Every year remind clients of what they have accomplished because of their work with your firm.
3. Every document put in front clients should be aesthetically pleasing, coordinated and containing the least amount of words as possible but as many as are needed to convey the message.
- The font, colors and layout of every document should always be the same.
- Each document should have an icon in the upper right hand corner that reminds clients which phase of the planning process they are in.
- Every document placed in front of clients should follow a template and every team member should always use these templates.
- Documents should be scrutinized by a wordsmith until they achieve maximum impact.
4. Knowing we cant control the stock market, look to control anything and everything else.
- Checklists, systems and processes should be put in place for everything that cant be left to chance. Team members shouldnt have to constantly reinvent the wheel. They should be 100% focused on what really matters -- delivering a unique client experience.
- When it comes to transactions, follow up with a call to make sure theyve received the check they requested and remind them when a premium is due, emailing them well in advance and helping them move cash around as necessary.
- Remember what drinks they ordered during the last visit and ask if theyd like the same or something different.
Keep the experiences that clients love and stop doing the things that clients dont care about. And remember, what works for my clients may not work for yours.
If we survey our clients and really listen to what they are saying, we should be able to continually improve upon the unique client experience that we are delivering every day.
Imagine what your practice will look like when you combine great financial advice with an amazing and unique client experience. I am certain that Walt would get excited about a financial advisor marketing plan that provided both.
John Enright and Michael Palumbos are practicing financial advisors and the co-founders of
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