A survey of client attrition rates for 2014 may, in fact, represent a turning point for the industry as it prepares for fallout from regulatory change.
A survey of client attrition rates for 2014 may, in fact, represent a turning point for the industry as it prepares for fallout from regulatory change.
Currently, Canada’s top financial advisors have a one per cent attrition rate while the average for Canadian advisors as a whole is closer to 10 per cent, according to Maximizer Services Inc., based in Vancouver B.C.
But CRM2 is expected to change that, with many transactional advisors anticipating client defections will double post CRM2’s full implementation.
“There will be a lot of unhappy clients out there once they realized the truth about their accounts and how much fees they’re paying to some of these advisors,” said an advice-only planner with Your Net Worth Manager, Kathy Waite. “I think that we’ll see the attrition rate get much higher when CRM2 finally kicks in.”
Top advisors and their commitment to using advanced technology as well as those who previously anticipated CRM changes and engaged clients in difficult conversations are most likely to maintain low attrition rates.
The study also found that 69 per cent of advisors had an attrition rate of five per cent or less if they were previously using a strong customer relations management system.
Waite says that using DayLite or Symantec has helped to build her business because she is able to keep up with clients regularly. The Important thing, she says, is to be proactive for their needs, and not reactive to their demands.
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“There are a lot of advisors who don’t keep up with their clients and wait for them to call instead of being proactive and keeping up regularly,” she said. “If my client mentions something about taking a trip at a specific time, I’ll often call them just to find out how it went. It lets them know I care, that I’m thinking about them and it’s led to more referrals while keeping my attrition rates low.”
“Typically I don’t lose clients unless they die.”
Till death do us part – not enough advisors are thinking that way, Waite said.
The report backs up the advisor’s comments, adding that "the future independent wealth management advisor needs to become a highly organized knowledge manager at the core, able to easily access precise information on a client at the right times in order to establish a stronger rapport and capitalize on opportunities as they present themselves," states the report.
