Transitioning a new client to your Service Calendar

Am I the only one that notices an awkward period where someone is a client but they are just different than a more tenured, ongoing client yet? And the elephant in the room is how do I get this new client to feel like that tenured, ongoing client? Because the end goal is to have all clients fully participate in our Service Calendar and the longer this awkward period lasts then the longer that client goes without receiving our best service.

I’m a little weird, as you’ve probably concluded by now if you’ve been reading the last few posts. But in my firm, we have a special term for clients in this awkward period. We call the On-Boarding Clients and the term is used for households that are no longer prospects (we have a signed contract) but they are not yet fully participating in our Service Calendar – so not in Meeting Surges, not receiving Value Adds, etc... We use this term to so I know exactly who my exceptions are to the Service Calendar and I know who I still need to get through the awkward stage and get fully onboarded.

I believe Onboarding has two very different parts – administratively onboarding them by opening accounts and then financial planning onboarding that consists of building the initial plan. The On-Boarding Module in our CRM, Quivr, ensures all administrative items are completed so this part is simpler to track whereas financial planning onboarding is a little more nuanced as every client comes to us in a unique situation. But regardless, if we hold true to certain rules then we can guarantee that this client will go through both onboarding components smoothly and ultimately transition to being a tenured, ongoing client as quickly as possible and without fail. So, what are our rules?

Rule 1: We do not do piecemeal planning

I’m sure we’ve all heard from a prospective client some variation of, “Oh, I already have an estate plan so I don’t need your help there”. Outside of piecemeal planning guaranteed to lead to planning issues, it also guarantees that this person will not seamlessly transition to our Service Calendar. For example, if we agree to not do tax planning for a client then how are we going to complete the tax planning Value Add in May/June every year? At our firm, you are either a fully participating client or you are not a client. Zero exceptions.

Rule 2: We do not deviate from our processes

Our processes are detailed, methodical, and built to provide us and our clients with the highest probability of succeeding. So, if we deviate from our processes then I am willingly increasing the likelihood of an issue or a mistake. It’s hard at times, but think of the ripple effect of not following a process. Assume that our process requires us to receive full copies of insurance policies but we make an exception and accept a client’s verbal description of their insurance. In addition to increasing the likelihood of poor insurance planning due to using incomplete (and possible incorrect data), how are we supposed to complete the insurance Value Add for this client? The price for taking shortcuts in your processes is spending significantly more time doing it right at some point in the future. Or delivering a lower quality of service than what you committed yourself to providing. I’m not sure which is worse.

Rule 3: We believe a client that fully participates in our Service Calendar will receive our best possible service and have the highest probability of achieving their financial goals

I fully believe that we provide the highest quality of service to our clients if they are fully participating in our annual Service Calendar. Our goal, which I fully believe in and endorse, is to get all clients into our Service Calendar once we are done with building the initial financial plan. Because I believe it to my core, I have full confidence (which the client can feel) in conveying this to the client. And without fully believing in our Service Calendar then I am more likely to make exceptions or deviate from our process. Truthfully, the most important conversation with a client when making a transition to a tenured, ongoing client is getting this client to schedule a meeting during a Meeting Surge. This then makes it more likely that they’ll continue meeting during surges and will receive the full Service Calendar offerings.

How do we actually get this client to transition to a Meeting Surge?

The million-dollar question. You do surges but how do you get new clients to actually meet during surge? It’s simple, really. The conversation occurs at the conclusion of building the initial plan. The trickiest part to me is knowing which Surge they should join. My firm holds a Meeting Surge in April and November. Below is how I would have the conversation based on the time of the year it is in which I am ready to transition this client from an Onboarding Client to a “Normal, Ongoing Client”.

Say it’s December and I want them to join the upcoming April surge:

“Client, it’s been so great working with you both. We’ve done a lot of great work together and I hope you feel as comfortable and excited about your plan as I do. We are in a bit of a transition point in our relationship. The last few months you’ve meet with me 4/5/6 times and it’s been a little intense as we [planned for your retirement/got a new estate plan/moved/Insert Goal Here]. But now the foundation of your plan is complete and my role is to make sure we execute the plan and course correct for when ‘life happens’. The next big action item for you is [enter a topic that we need to work on around April. Perhaps it’s tax planning or they have a Cash Flow event. There is something you will want to talk to them about at this time]. I would love to meet again in April so we can address that. Now understand that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me until then as I am always available via email, the phone, or for a Zoom meeting, but it just means that the next big item we must address should be covered then and I want to make sure we don’t miss it. [I then wait for them to nod or say something conveying they agree and then I pull Calendly up as I’m 100% virtual and schedule their next meeting right there and then].

The key to this conversation is tying their plan to the Meeting Surge. And it should as I work with a very tight client niche and they all have comparable issues to address in April and in November. I am not lying or “putting a square peg in a round hole”. I am simply telling them when I want to meet and, more importantly, why.

Let’s do another example. Say it’s February and we’ve already covered tax planning and the items on the Surge agenda for April so we don’t need to meet until the November Surge:

“Client, it’s been so great working with you both. We’ve done a lot of great work together and I hope you feel as comfortable and excited about your plan as I do. We are in a bit of a transition point in our relationship. The last few months you’ve meet with me 4/5/6 times and it’s been a little intense as we [planned for your retirement/got a new estate plan/moved/illness/]. Truthfully, we’ve already knocked out most of the items on our list for planning in the spring, like your tax return, and I feel very comfortable with the plan we have in place for the summer. I’d like to meet with you again in November, which is a perfect time to review your year-end tax planning and to review [insert planning topic that is most important to them].

Most of the time I do not get any pushback. The only time I do is if the next meeting is 9+ months from the current time. If that’s the case I will ask the client which they prefer – April or November. If they want to meet in the upcoming Meeting Surge that’s only 2 or 3 months away then excellent. If they’d prefer to push it off until the following Meeting Surge then that’s also excellent. The goal is to make sure they get into the Meeting Surge cadence so they fully participate in our Service Calendar. The timing of their first Meeting Surge is less important.

Next week we will start a new series. More on that to come :)

Until then,

Steve