We are all in the race to grow our business, add more clients, earn more money and take our financial advisory business to another level. With the view to stay ahead in the race, we implement numerous marketing tactics, advertisements, product campaigns, online marketing, and whatnot. Many times in the rush, we forget the basic, “A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.”

It's good that we are passionate about expanding our business, we do our best executing business strategies and marketing techniques, yet the best strategy of all should always be at the center: creating a happy and pleasant investing experience for the client.

The recipe to creating a happy investor is the blend of two magic ingredients: Returns and Service Quality.

Returns: Talking about Returns, the higher the better. Investors are the happiest when their investments yield superior returns, since the sole purpose of investing is profiting from it and when the investment holds true to this aspect, investors are happy. But practically you can't do much about returns, so if a client is invested in a mutual fund, the fund's performance is not in your hands. But there is something certainly under your control, and that is optimum product selection for optimal returns. Again there are two dimensions to product selection:

1. Suitability: If someone has Vitamin B deficiency, you won't take him out in the sunlight to feed Vitamin D, no matter how great is Vitamin D for the human body. The same logic applies here, product category selection should principally depend upon the investor's needs, and not on the product's caliber. The fundamental attributes of the product must equate with the investor's requirements. Select according to the client's investment horizon and risk appetite.

2. Quality: The quality of the product can be measured in terms of it's past performance, management, future prospects, etc. And recommending a good quality investment product is a primary role of the advisor. Let's say you have to look for a diversified equity mutual fund for the investor, so you must ensure that you have done a thorough research on the sector, made a comparison between all contestants and finally suggest one of the best performers to the investor. When the underlying character of the product is promising, it reflects in results, ultimately leading to customer satisfaction.

Service quality: Returns may or may not support you in winning the client's trust, your service will. A customer is happy when he is taken care of in ways he didn't expect.

1.Keep in touch: Be in constant contact with your clients, make it a point to meet/call them at regular intervals, seek feedback and suggestions on your service quality, and improve continuously.

2. Don't lose his hand when it's raining: A financial advisor plays the role of a friend, a guide, a pillar of support for the investor. And it's heartbreaking for the investor when the advisor leaves his hand in difficult times. That's the time when your investor needs you the most, your service will stand the test of time when you support your client at the time when he will have doubts on your knowledge, your choice, at the time when he'll have questions, the answers to which are very difficult, at the time when the most convenient thing to do is to switch off your phone and avoid the embarrassment. But that is also the time to prove your genuineness, to fulfill your commitments.

3. Custom Service: Each investor is different, they will have different threshold limits and hence some investors may be able to digest losses without much difficulty, while others may have extreme reactions. Not just losses, it applies to other aspects of the advisor-client relationship as well. Some investors may appreciate his advisor's efforts to keep a constant connect, while others may not be looking for too many meetings or calls, investors have different priorities, different approaches to investment and different personalities. So, there isn't any standard service format that works for all, and the advisor shall tailor the service quality according to individual needs of the client.

So to conclude, keeping the customer happy is the key to any happy business, and the same logic applies to financial advisory as well. The above extracts aim to aid the advisor in achieving his goals. And if you are also one of the advisors who's seeking to grow your business. The solution is simple: Create a happy investor.

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For a long time, the focus of financial advisors have been clients who have been well established in their careers. Slowly, a large part of our segment of clients is seen moving into retirement. On the other hand, the average age of a new investor is also seen as falling. For financial advisors, this is a challenge as they now have to shift their focus to this segment of younger clients.

A lot of young clients are already well within your reach as your old clients near retirement. The younger generation of the families you serve is an ideal place to focus on to begin with. However, as one can easily realise, there is often a generation gap felt between the advisor and the younger generation. As advisors, we may need to revisit our traditional approach in advising and servicing such clients. Here are a few things which we believe would be helpful while dealing with such clients...

1. Develop financial literacy: While the young generation is likely to be way smarter, they need not be much educated in personal finance matters. The source of any knowledge would mostly be friends and internet. Thus, a big role of financial advisors will go into developing financial literacy of such clients. They would need to be given clear understanding and logic behind your opinions. Remember that the client has many sources of getting the right information and one is not dependent on you for same. Hence always present the right version of facts and opinions which can stand the test of evaluation.

2. Be open to questions: Don't ever judge that you have been successful in communicating your ideas simply because there are no questions being asked. Lack of any questions may mean that the concerned person is either not serious about the subject or that you are not been taken seriously. It is important to make the client feel comfortable and welcome to ask any questions, however stupid or difficult they may feel it to be. Likewise, it is also important that you take all questions seriously and with respect and answer them in a proper manner.

3. Start Communicating: As advisors, communication has to be streamlined and made more relevant, interesting and brief for the clients. Communication need not only be regarding transactions and promotions. A lot of communication has to be about educating clients. The mode of communication should suit the young clients who are more more comfortable with smart phones and the communication channels available there.

4. Be Transparent: There is a certain level of transparency expected by client today. Advisors should be open to disclosing all relevant information, processes, etc. that affect the clients. It is also fair that you be open about your qualifications, experience, business setup, etc. to help the client get confidence and clarity about your services. However, not all information is essential for the client, especially the ones which are not relevant/related to your services to him/her.

5. Be respectful: The young generation that we may need to deal with is unlike any generation before us. They are more confident, independent, smart and informed. While they may not be yet successful or experience, they often make up with enthusiasm and dedication. As financial advisors, we need to give appropriate respect to young clients keeping in mind what future possibilities they hold. One way of giving respect would be to sit with the clients and discuss things independently in absence of their parents /guardians. Giving respect is also a great way to get respect from clients.

6. Adopt Technology: The young generation today is literally hands on with technology and would any day prefer something that is backed with automation and technology as opposed to paper or physical driven processes. As financial advisors we would need to have and pitch solutions that are technology driven. In absence of this, the clients are likely to easily get enrolled/acquired by others who are visible on the internet. Financial advisors must also have their presence online with the help of a proper website.

7. Be Patient. Listen.: In spite of doing all the above, it is most likely that the young prospects do not readily follow your advice or even reject them. It is important that you do not have your ego bruised and have patience with the clients. Advisors will need to listen more to the needs, reasonings and problems that the clients have. Listening becomes important when the client is younger, naive and less informed than you. You will need to suppress the urge to give lectures /guidance every now and then and learn to listen.

8. Focus on outcomes: Focusing on outcomes and actions is a good way to work with the young generation. Ask closed ended questions, set clear deadlines and dates for actions /meetings, etc. Be clear and honest on your service standards and what results can one expect from you. At the same time it would be also important for you to underline his/her part in the engagement and your expectations. You should clear the areas of your expertise and services offered. It is always better that you under promise and over-deliver on your services.

What is a Digital Advisor?
A Digital Advisor is the evolution of a traditional financial Advisor. A Digital advisor offers the speed and convenience of technology to his clients and at the same time maintains a virtual personal touch through e-media such as video calls, chats, multimedia, etc. A digital advisor is an amalgamation of a traditional hard copy financial advisor and the next Gen Robo advisor.

Going Digital is the need of the hour, people are become aware and looking forward to quick and simple solutions. An advisor should remain at par with the latest developments, exploit the benefits provided by technology and optimize his business process. Advisory business is not easy, but the complications involved can be minimized with the help of technology.

How can you become a Digital Advisor?
A Digital Advisor advises his clients with optimum use of technology. A financial advisor can become a Digital Advisor by embracing technology and incorporating digital tools while executing his business activities. You can become a Digital Advisor by adopting the following techniques.

• New client acquisition through Digital Marketing. Technology can help you acquire a large number of new clients. The Digital Platform has a far wider reach than the traditional methods of marketing. Further, it is convenient, effective and is economical. If you want to propagate a new product, all you have to do is simply make a nice banner on your computer and forward it to your whatsapp contacts or put it on your facebook page, done. It is that easy and it is practically impossible to match the magnitude of online audience with any other means of marketing.
• Getting a client on board is so easy. Your client just needs an Aadhar card and KYC and the account opening exercise is just a matter of an hour. You do not have to ask the client to fill multiple forms or meet him repeatedly or go to an office to submit his papers, and then go back again because there was a mismatch in the signature, etc. Technology has eliminated the redundancy. The advisor must adapt technology and make the investment process completely paperless, quick and simple for the client and for himself.
• Send all communications and updates through electronic media. Information on a new product in the industry, a communication on the client's portfolio, a birthday card to be sent the client; can now be done electronically. You don't have to personally meet your client for every petty thing or send a hard copy of a birthday card to your clients. You can simply send an email or a whatsapp message to communicate many things. This will help you save a lot of time and efforts.
• Meetings through e-media: You can expand your horizon with the help of Technology. If you had to meet 10 people today, and after toiling for almost 10 hours, you were able to meet 7 of them and were so exhausted at the end of the day, that could not even think of working on other things. Technology solves your problem, you can meet your 10 clients in one day virtually through skype or other video calling Apps plus you'll be left with some extra time, which can be utilized in business development and expanding your horizon.
• Get yourself organized with Information Technology: There are a number of softwares available to help you organize your business. You can create a simplified database of all your clients. You can view the exact position of your clients at any given point of time. You can also set alerts, which may remind you of your scheduled meetings, meetings which got cancelled and need to be rescheduled, etc. You can also send alerts to your clients if their investment installments are due and the like.

Our clients are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, PinInterest, Youtube, etc so why are we still looking for them outside the office buildings. Our clients are online, so why shouldn't we be. Transform yourself into a Digital Advisor, and see your business grow because sky is your only limit.

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