Is it insight or just information?

Clients value communication immensely—so much so that, in an industry with a near-perfect retention rate, the lack of it is one of the few reasons clients choose to leave.

The reason communication is so valuable for clients isn’t a lack of access to information. It’s too much access. Here are a few ways to ensure your client communication is doing more than just adding to the information overload. 

Draw on your own expertise.

When faced with countless competing voices and contradictory viewpoints, there’s nothing better than a clear, conclusive statement from someone you trust. And it’s hard to hit that note with a corporate newsletter.

While the content you receive from your broker-dealer or parent institution may be of good quality, posting it on your website or sending it out to your client base will have a limited effect. Injecting your own expertise is what makes your communications insightful.

What’s more, some of the noise your clients are hearing is about how well or how poorly the stock market is doing, with constant suggestions or claims from other professionals that they can do better. Those are the voices that can take over unless the content you share is a perpetual reminder that you’re the best person to steer the ship.

Establish a person-to-person tone.

Interspersed with your timely insights should be some personal communication outside of your scheduled reviews, as clients want to know that these insights you’re sharing are being applied to their particular case in an advantageous way.

Remember to show your own personality as well. IAs often tell us that the articles and features that get the most comments are the ones that have nothing to do with finance or investing. They’re personal stories, life event updates, recipes and fun anecdotes. While it might not be the meat of your newsletter or blog article, this kind of content can help foster the personal connection that is central to the advisory relationship.

Be consistent.

Trust and reliability go hand-in-hand. If your communications are reliably shared at regular intervals, they become an expectation that’s met again and again. Clients can be confident that, even in volatile markets and chaotic times, they can rely on your upcoming perspective instead of seeking out other voices or sifting through all the industry noise.

Often the best advice an IA can give is to do nothing—don’t panic, stay in the market and let compound growth happen. And the more value clients place in your viewpoint, both during and outside of your annual reviews, the more likely they are to heed that advice.