Web Strategy Sessions:
Creating Alpha in Your Practice
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
©2009 Wilke & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Communicate Effectively and
Efficiently with Affluent Clients
Presented by Maureen Wilke
President, Wilke and Associates, Inc. and
Author of The Connected Advisor
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
©2009 Wilke & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
What have affluent investors shared?
81% of investors with $1 million or more in
investible assets plan to take money away
from their current advisor.
70% plan to leave their advisor altogether.
Source: Wall Street Journal, October 4, 2008, Russ Alan Prince
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Seize the Opportunity
Take a proactive approach when working with
affluent clients (and prospects).
• Reinforce the reasons clients work with you – the
Trust Factor.
• Be consistent communicating important updates.
• Educate affluent clients on investment topics such
as diversification, risk management, and asset
allocation.
• Create and execute a solid communications plan.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
The Difference One Degree of Change Makes
What happens to water when the temperature
goes from 211 degrees to 212 degrees?
Having a client-centered practice for your clients
is the one degree of change.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
One Degree of Change
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Communicate Effectively and Efficiently with
Affluent Clients
Good communications are critical to the success of
your practice. Develop a focused plan and commit
to executing it.
Step 1: KNOW Your Top Clients
Step 2: SELECT Your Plan Components
Step 3: BUILD A Communications Plan
Step 4: ROLLOUT Your Plan to Staff & Clients
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Step 1: Know Your Top Clients
To provide quality, valued communications
to your top clients, you need to know a lot
about them.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Know Your Top Clients
Create a Top Client Background Chart to
facilitate capturing important information.
Other members of your team can be involved
in collecting the data.
This chart is the foundation for your internal
and external communications and it will help
you develop the communications calendar.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Know Your Top Clients
Example Top Clients’ Background Chart
Client/Age
Charles &
Jean
Watters
(Age 55)
Investable Assets/
Pension/401(k)/
Stock Options
Family
Goals
Referral
Prospects
Lifestyle Interests
& Financial
Concerns
$2,000,000/
Son(15)
Asset
Accumulation
Sue James
(sister)
Retirement Planning
$900,000/$200,000
Father(80)
College
Planning
Bob Smith
(brother)
Pro Tennis Event
$3,500,000
(current value)
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Budget during college
(parents and children)
The Value of a Client Investment Process
Helps advisors understand where the client is in
the investment process and:
• Sets client’s expectations.
• Positions the value of working with you.
• Aligns the right investment process for each client.
• Streamlines working with clients and prospects.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
A Client-Centered Practice
INVESTOR PROFILE:
Risk Analysis
Time Horizon
Financial Needs
PORTFOLIO MONITORING:
 Review Client’s Goals Progress
 Review Managers Performance
 Rebalance Portfolio Holdings
 Re -Profile Client as needed
CLIENT
&
Client and
Financial
FINANCIAL
PROFESSIONAL
Professional
INVESTMENT MANAGER
SELECTION
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PORTFOLIO STRUCTURE:
 Diversification
Asset Allocation
Strategic Models
Step 2: Select Your Plan Components
Advisers often share that lower-level clients can
consume most of their time.
It is critical to create a two-tiered communications
plan with a focus on top clients and a plan for all
others. This allows you to manage clients’
expectations and your time.
Components for your lower-level plan might
include an annual review, a quarterly newsletter
mailing or email, and one seminar invitation each
year.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Start with Affluent Client Communications
• Select components for plan that incorporate items from the
‘Lifestyle Interests and Financial Concerns’ column of the
Top Client Background Chart.
• Plan your seminars and events around topics that are of
known interest to a number of clients.
• Annual communications should also include in-person
reviews and written or email communications such as
newsletters and market updates.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Affluent Clients and Prospects
For Top Clients (the top 30-50 clients)
 At least two client reviews annually.
 Seminars and appreciation events of two to four
per year such as a client appreciation lunches,
tennis event, gardening seminar, college
budgeting seminar, retirement planning.
 Birthday lunch with a top client and their friend.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Written Communications
Plan on four to six written communications per year:
 Send a birthday card
(www.corporategreetingsinc.com).
 Mail a compliance approved quarterly investment
newsletter (Emerald publications or Morningstar).
 Lewis Walker’s monthly newsletter strategy.
 Industry white papers and research documents (MMI).
 Send a lifestyle magazine or newsletter.
 Establish a market update communication procedure
to communicate by e-mail to all clients and then by
phone starting with top clients.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Lower-tiered client communications
For All Other Clients
 Client reviews once per year by phone with you,
or a junior partner.
 One financial seminar per year. A great topic is
Planning Your IRA Rollover Today. Hold it right in
your office’s conference room or the local library.
 Email a compliance approved, quarterly
investment newsletter.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Step 3: Build the Communication Plan
A calendar must be focused and tied to top
clients’ interests. Look at the entire year and
schedule your four most important events first:
 Two semi-annual reviews
 One financial seminar
 One lifestyle event
Next, build out a complete 12-month calendar
and start communicating 8-12 times each year
with top clients.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Commit to Delivering the Plan
Create 8-12 communications each year to stay connected:
 Quarterly newsletter - email or printed version.
 January – Update wills and trusts with client’s attorney.
 April – June – Post-tax time update or beneficiary updates.
 August - Client appreciation and lifestyle events.
 October through December – Year-end reviews.
 November – Charity event with a local artist, chef or wine
tasting.
 Generations of Trust – Assisted living solutions.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Build a Top Client Communications Calendar
Example Top Client Communications Calendar
Quarter
Event
January - March
Financial Seminars (Retirement Planning
or College Funding)
April - June
Tax-time Reviews or Beneficiary Review
July - September
Lifestyle Events (“Gardening is Golden”
or Pro Tennis Event)
October December
Annual Client Reviews (will follow-up)
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Effective and Efficient Client
Appreciation Events
Presented by Dennis Slott
SVP, Vestor Capital Management
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
©2009 Wilke & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Value of Client Appreciation Events
To Retain High Net Worth Relationships and Gain Referrals
Benefit for Advisors
• Get to know more about top clients’ needs and interests.
• Position your value by providing educational information.
• Automate client referral opportunities
Benefit for Clients
• Educational opportunity.
• Networking opportunity to meet other clients.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Preparation
• Contact a restaurant two to three weeks prior to the luncheon.
• Choose a local restaurant to support the community.
• Select the menu and see if your company name can be added.
• Call to invite the guests rather than sending an invitation.
• Call two days prior to confirm guests and with the restaurant.
• Estimated cost is $25 per person with tip.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Delivery
•Greet guests at the entrance of the seating area and make
introductions where necessary (consider place cards).
•Sit down and ask the service to begin with appetizers. During this
time provide a 10-15 minute market update or commentary.
•Consider offering drinks or wine (rarely accepted).
•Have a handout and emphasize your team’s value and services.
•Thank them again for their business and emphasize their value to
your business. Also, remind them about referrals.
•Consider inviting a CPA or attorney as a guest.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Results
Dear Dennis:
It was a pleasure for me and Mary to attend the Client
Appreciation Luncheon that you and Jill hosted yesterday.
Your presentation was helpful in understanding the difficult
economic conditions we have today.
It is nice to know what we have your experience and
expertise working for us. I would not hesitate to
recommend you for money management.
Cordially,
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Step 4: Rollout Your Plan to Staff & Clients
• Communicate the plan with your team and top
clients.
• Meet with your staff to present the final plan and
assign roles and responsibilities. Leverage costeffective outside resources.
• Share the written plan with top clients during
year-end reviews. Don’t underestimate the value
of a plan and have clients save the dates for
events.
• Your top clients will see this ‘announcement’ as
reinforcement of the fact that they can count on
your practice and you – The Trust Factor.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Ask Clients for Opinions
Our team strives to always be our best at creating informative
seminars focused on your financial and lifestyle needs. We need your
input to understand how we can better accomplish this. Please take a
moment to answer these questions and return it by Friday, xxx.
 What were your impressions when you first started working with
our financial practice?
 What would you tell a friend or family member about our
financial practice that would encourage them to work with us?
 Our goal is to provide you with the best investment planning
process designed around your financial goals. Are we on target
to accomplish this?
 What are two topics you would like to hear more about?
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
To Re-Cap: Seize the Opportunity
Take a proactive approach when working with
affluent clients (and prospects).
• Reinforce the reasons clients work with you – the
Trust Factor.
• Be consistent communicating important updates.
• Educate affluent clients on investment topics such
as diversification, risk management, and asset
allocation.
• Create and execute a solid communications plan.
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
Communicate Effectively and
Efficiently with Affluent Clients
Presented by Maureen Wilke
President, Wilke and Associates, Inc. and
Author of The Connected Advisor
For Financial Professional Use Only - May Not Be Given or Shown to members of the General Public
©2009 Wilke & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.