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Great client experiences trump less telling performance metrics

Set a standard that is aspirational and magnetic and captures the imagination of your clients and your team

In this industry, we love to benchmark our businesses to our peers. We compare frequency of contact and a host of service ratios that tell us how we stack up when it comes to servicing our clients. And while the joy of being above average is like a magic elixir, it’s of limited value if your true goal is to design an extraordinary client experience. True innovation cannot be benchmarked, unless, of course, you are benchmarking to great.

The question is, What does great look like? Can it be found by comparing ourselves to other advisers, or do we need to look beyond the walls of our office or, in fact, this industry? Great leaders have the audacity to set expansive goals for what they want their clients to feel, and they look outside the industry for the benchmark, including the likes of Ritz Carlton, Zappos or Disney.

By pinning their goals to a higher standard, they create a different filter for decision-making and, in the process, a different outcome for their clients — an experience with a powerful and positive emotional impact.

PASSIONATE LOYALTY

You might wonder how helpful it is to benchmark yourself to large companies or brands. The reality is that while the scale is different, you want your clients to feel the same way they do when they experience these great companies. You want to create the same passionate loyalty that these brands engender, and there are steps you can take to get there.

Step 1: Set a benchmark that defines a great experience and identify the components that make it great.

Answer this question: What is the single greatest service experience you have ever had? Once you have that in mind, dissect that experience to understand what made it great. If you have a team, this is an ideal team exercise; otherwise consider inviting a colleague to participate. Once you have identified the experience, go deep to understand why it stands out. Consider the following questions:

• Why did you think of that experience?

• How did it make you feel?

• How did you hear about the firm?

• What happened when you contacted them the first time?

• What happened during the process of using the product/ser- vice?

• What happened after (or on an ongoing basis)?

• What words would you use to describe this firm?

• What were the primary touch points?

Step 2: Invite your clients to help you define great.

Identify two to three clients with whom you are meeting in the next 30 days, and add one item to their agendas. As part of the meeting, ask them the same question you asked yourself and/or your team in the step above. The only caveat is that the client cannot identify you as the “single greatest service experience”; they can identify any other organization, big or small. Once they have that organization in mind, ask a similar set of questions, and listen carefully to the words they use to describe the experience. Are they the same things you thought of when you examined your one best experience?

AHEAD OF THE CURVE

These two actions will give you a more complete understanding of the kinds of activities or communications that stand out for clients. You may find they have little to do with technical details of the product or service on offer, but this is important information because you want your clients to feel the same about working with you as they did when they described their one best experience. Examine each of the client-experience components that emerged and ask if and how that might apply in your business.

Understanding how you compare with your peers on specific aspects of delivering the client experience is, no doubt, helpful. It’s a way to identify potential weaknesses. When it comes to your client experience, however, don’t rely on those quantitative benchmarks for validation. Set a standard that is aspirational and magnetic and captures the imagination of your clients and your team. Only then will you truly be ahead of the curve.

Julie Littlechild is the founder of AbsoluteEngagement.com, helping advisers engage intentionally with their work, their clients and their teams.