Clients are the lifeblood of a financial services businesses. Without clients there is no business. Improving the client experience is not just a ‘feel good’ thing to do; it delivers tangible returns to a business
- More trusted relationships
- Better client retention
- Greater share of wallet
- Greater preparedness to pay
- More people encouraging more Australians to actively improve their financial literacy, money management skills, risk profile, health, relationships and well-being
Financial advice client experience survey
Conducting annual client surveys is best practice and is a ‘must’ if advice practices are to become truly client-centric. The really hard part comes next – what will you do with the information resulting from the survey.
- Firstly, combine this information with where your business is at. You need to benchmark your financial position, your staffing, your systems etc. e.g. Beddoes Practice Benchmarking.
- Then have your results explained to you in a consulting session (we call ours Data to Discovery).
- Create an Action Plan to implement change where it is needed.
- Get advice from fellow advisers in professional networks e.g. Most Trusted Advisers, AFA/FPA, Licensees round tables etc.
- Track performance i.e. embedded client surveys into standard business practice every year. This is the only way advice practices can become truly client-centric and realise the business benefits above.
We often use the insights from client surveys and more bespoke work to write industry white-papers for the sector so that all practices and advisers can benefit from clients are saying.
Practice staffing, financials, systems and processes
We monitor and track the performance of advice practices, advisers by monitoring financial performance, business structure, HR, business systems and processes (we call these Business Success Pillars in the Innovation Matrix).
Advisers, Policyholders, Claims surveys
In June 2016, we launched the Consumers Choice Awards with the AFA which is underpinned by the Beddoes Institute’s Policyholder Perceptions Study and the Claims Journey Study – the two end-customer Life Insurance Industry Performance Barometer studies.
The Consumers Choice awards will assist consumers as they choose life, trauma and TPD, and income protection insurance policies and providers.
As many consumers hold insurance policies and will never make a claim, the Policyholder Awards recognise outstanding customer service as well as the value (other than protection) that personal insurance provides such as education, health and wellness programs, communication initiatives etc.
The Claims Awards recognise outstanding service of claimants of income protection, Trauma and TPD insurance during 2015-2016 including claims processing, support and holistic care.
Membership survey (Licensees, Associations)
We perform staff engagement and membership surveys for professional associations such as the AFA and licensees.
Custom surveys
We undertake custom research either as a standalone or built into our standard benchmarking surveys to address business critical needs. Examples include consensus studies where issues are outlined and refined by a wide group of stakeholders through repeated surveys in order to create the best outcome and broad based buy-in by all involved.