Using client beneficiary updates to uncover new assets

The death of Michael Jackson underscores the importance of clients' having updated wills and financial plans. You can capitalize on this heightened awareness to be sure all of your clients' financial documents are updated and that their beneficiaries are correctly identified. How to meet the challenge: Use July and August to meet with clients and conduct beneficiary updates. Since the subject is on their minds, the timing is right. Your updates should cover the beneficiaries on their wills, insurance policies, IRAs and 401(k)s or other pension plans. These reviews will demonstrate the value of your practice and give your firm a competitive edge. But where do you find the time and resources to get the job done? Getting the job done: The key to capturing this opportunity is having a turnkey process, which we will cover over the next three weeks. Over that time, we will develop a plan to identify outdated documents and consolidate clients' investments, as well as help you focus on your most valuable clients — those who represent 80% or more of your revenue. This week: Identifying clients for meetings, calling and e-mails Start this effort by segmenting your client base. After doing that, we'll discuss how you will approach each segment and how to divide the work among members of your team. This means communicating the need for updates and providing clients with a checklist. Tier One, or the top 20% of your clients by assets or fees, will receive an in-person meeting. These clients typically represent about 80% of your assets under management. Tier Two clients, the next 30% of your client base, can be covered with a phone call. Finally, Tier Three clients, the remaining 50%, will receive e-mail updates and a checklist. One top adviser covers her lower 125 clients by e-mailing them a beneficiary checklist and then checks a few insurance areas. Her assistant takes care of the whole process and handles the reviews. While the adviser does not meet personally with all these clients, the review provides an opportunity to see if her lower-tiered clients are savers and whether they have retirement plans, stock or stock options they have forgotten about. A good friend recently found stocks in his dad's closet safely tucked away in an old envelope. They had been forgotten. Do your segmentation this week. Next week we will cover the calendar plan and checklist to send out to clients. The goal is to have beneficiary updates completed by mid-September. Next week: Leveraging the beneficiary update calendar and checklist