From plush toys to espresso, 4 ways to make your office more productive

August 1, 2022 5:53 PM

The "Murphy family" helps keep advisors focused on the clients at Abacus Planning Group.

It’s been a difficult few years for offices. As COVID-19 forced lockdowns and social distancing, many financial professionals learned to do without a brick-and-mortar headquarters. But as the pandemic ebbs, advisors and others have a chance not only to return to the office, but to rediscover some of the benefits you can’t get from meeting with clients on Zoom.

Financial Planning talked to three advisors who are using their office space in new and innovative ways. By adding perks, hosting events and carefully curating their physical surroundings, these advisors say they’re getting better work from their employees and delivering stronger service to their clients. Here’s how they do it.

Pexels/Diana Smykova

Set the tone

In Beverly Hills, there are plenty of cafes where clients could stop for a coffee on their way to Boulevard Family Wealth, an RIA located on Rodeo Drive. But Matthew Celenza, Boulevard’s founder and managing partner, says they don’t bother. That’s because the best cup of joe is at the office, where Boulevard has a high-end Nespresso machine.

“That is not by any particular design,” Celenza said. “That was by my own preference — I’m of Italian culture, and I have very low tolerance for bad coffee.”

Now that the machine is there, though, Celenza says clients have grown to love it, and look forward to the lattes and espressos they can have at the office. And the beverages aren’t just a treat; they match the lifestyles of Boulevard’s “ultra-wealthy” clientele.

“The office should reflect the common theme of your customer base,” Celenza said. “I’m in complete synergy with my clients’ mindset…The office is, I think, just another subset of that.”

Keep it focused

If you visit Abacus Planning Group’s office in Columbia, South Carolina, you’ll see a lot of clocks. The small, pastel-colored timepieces are all over the walls and tables, with two in each small conference room and four in the large one. Cheryl Holland, Abacus’ founder and president, says they serve an important purpose.

“You know when you’re at a meeting and someone looks at their watch, and you think, ‘Oh, are they tired of me? Is it time to go?’” Holland asked. The clocks, she said, make sure advisors can keep track of the time without looking distracted to a client.

“No matter where you’re sitting, you have line of sight to the clock,” she said. “It makes us focus on listening to [the clients], rather than worrying about what time it is.”

The office also includes other, more “joyful” features. High on that list is a set of quirky, smiling stuffed animals, nicknamed “the Murphy family.” The dolls reside in a part of the office that real clients don’t see, but Holland said they come to staff meetings and role-playing exercises. Recently, the Murphy elders — who have two children and three grandchildren — debated whether to sell their family business. Abacus advisors helped them weigh their options.

“We say the Murphys are like a client family, and so when they’re with us, it reminds us the clients are at the table,” Holland said. “It’s a fun way of keeping our focus.”

Host an event

Briaud Financial Advisors is located in an ornate brick building in College Station, Texas. When it was built, the structure was designed to include a large storage room for filing cabinets and documents. But in our paperless, digital era, the room sat empty.

Some years ago, the firm’s founder, Janet Briaud, came up with an idea and pulled up a circle of chairs. The cabinet room, she decided, would become the venue for a new event: the Retirement Transitions Group.

“We had a pretty big influx of clients who basically retired all at the same time,” said Matthew McKay, a partner at Briaud. “They wanted to transition from the work that they were doing to something else in retirement, but weren’t quite sure how to adapt to that. And so we created a group that could address some of those issues, and it grew over time.”

Gradually, more and more clients began attending the meetings, which took on a book club-like atmosphere. Briaud provided cheese, crackers, fruit and beverages. Over a glass of pinot noir or a cup of Tazo tea, the retirees discussed everything from investments and the economy to hobbies and grandchildren. A Briaud advisor — typically Janet herself — led the meeting, offering tips on cybersecurity and other issues.

“It wasn’t just a social club,” McKay said. “We tried to make their time worth it.”

The Group gave clients valuable information, as well as a fuller picture of what their advisors did for them. But the greatest benefit of all, McKay said, was being around other retirees. When the pandemic began, the meetings stopped. But McKay says Briaud — and the clients — hope to start them up again soon.

“They miss it,” McKay said. “I think they just saw it as an extreme value add that they could connect with other people who were at the same stage of life that they were.”

Send a message

Though their offices are very different, Celenza, Holland and McKay all base their choices on a common principle: the physical setting of a business sends a message to the client.

At Briaud, McKay said, that message is delivered by the office’s elegant decor. The space is kept simple, but the objects that are included — the mahogany bookshelves, the cozy fireplace, the plush, white accent chairs — are of a very high quality.

“It’s meant to evoke a feeling of substance, because we believe the planning that we do is of substance,” McKay said.

Meanwhile, Boulevard’s high-end amenities, its beautiful views — and its location itself, on Rodeo Drive — are all meant to convey an elite experience. Even the espresso machine, Celenza said, sends a certain message.

“It’s turned into kind of a joke,” he said. “My assistant says, ‘We only make coffee for people who are incredibly wealthy.’”

At Abacus, Holland uses a number of items — clocks, phone chargers, acrylic glasses holders — to let her clients know their advisors are looking after them.

“I think the absolute most important thing for any human is to feel listened to,” Holland said. “So if you can create an environment that reinforces that entire experience of ‘Our focus is you, this is a safe place, we have respect for you,’ there’s a hundred ways to signal that.”