Servicing starts when a lead signs the policy of whatever it is you are offering and moves forward to do the underwriting. In short, this is when they become a real client. In the financial industry, the first commitment that you get from somebody is by signing something. This is also when you, as an agent, or your team, starts the service. Why is customer service so critical? Giving pleasant customer service is crucial to growing your business because if the experience is not good, your clients will not refer your service to other people. As with sales and marketing, you can always hire other people to do this for you if you think this is not your strength. If you want to thrive in this business, you have to find a way to supplement skill sets. Consider hiring a virtual assistant that can keep all your clients on the radar. Create and operate a system that your virtual assistant can follow so you can reach that goal of making clients happy and getting more referrals in the process. Make magic happen while waiting After the signing of the contract, the underwriting process begins. It is a process that takes time and is out of your hands. So how can you make yourself stand out during the waiting process that usually lasts for weeks? You have to create a perception management system to make sure that nothing falls out of the cracks while the client is waiting. Giving weekly updates is one thing to assure the client that you are doing something. The ‘no news is good news’ principle does not apply in this industry. You can also stand out by creating positive surprises to make the waiting period pleasurable. There is enough money going around in this industry to do impressive things for your clients like sending them gifts and the like. The real goal is building a referrable process. The experience the clients had is what they will be referring to or associating with you. The underwriting process is the calm period when clients are reflecting on their experience the most. This is an opportunity for you to fill the space with pleasant surprises and referrable activities.

After this process, make sure to stay on top of your clients’ dealings so that you will not miss out on opportunities for repeat business. A well-run system will be proactively reaching out to clients to make sure everything is good. Make sure to have periodic touch points and get updates on your clients’ lives. The hardest year in this business is the first year, but if done right and if you get the referrals you should get, you will be in a good place. A low-lying fruit in the customer service stage is to make the clients happy and have them send people your way.

To sum up the three general categories that we have talked about: marketing is about educating the prospective clients with no cost; sales is comparing what they have and what they could have; and service is getting the job done and creating a sensation in order to get referrals and make this perpetual.

The next episodes will tackle specifics on these categories as well as actionable tactics to implement in order to further grow your business.

About Charlie Jewett

Charlie Jewett is an author, speaker, recruiter, trainer, consumer advocate and investment advisor from San Diego, CA. As the “Financial Services Whistleblower” Charlie has been trying to change the way that industry professionals and consumers think about retirement since 2005. With considerable years of experience and an array of professional certifications, Charlie focuses on stock market alternatives combined with tax-free retirement income and provides educational materials that help people to create their ideal retirement plan. He is the host of two podcasts, Renovating Retirement  and Target Practice for Advisors, as well as the author of “Renovating Retirement” and “Two Ways to Be Debt Free”, both available on Amazon Kindle.

About Bobby Alford

Bobby Alford has walked an unconventional path to becoming the CEO of Renovating Retirement. He spent 10 years in the US Submarine force, both as an officer and enlisted person, earning a degree in nuclear engineering along the way. Bobby then joined corporate America and worked for a Fortune 50 company in operations, finance, and sales management roles. After getting his MBA, he began working with military veterans to improve their retirement options. At that point he found Charlie Jewett and learned how to truly impact a person's financial life using the MERIT model of planning. Bobby joined Charlie and now uses his skills to grow their company toward achieving the goal of creating $1 billion dollars of annual tax-Free money for their clients.

Web/Social Links

Website: https://targetpracticepodcast.com