You want to help your clients as well as possible. Not just during the advice process but afterward as well. You want to fulfill your responsibilities in terms of aftercare. And you want to watch for buying signals. You want to connect with your clients and make them loyal to your organization. But you want all of this in an efficient way. Active client management is the solution.
No insight into cluttered client portfolios
Since the introduction of more strict regulations in financial services, client portfolios have grown extensively. The consolidation due to corporate takeovers contributed to that. The financial advice the client initially received is sometimes stored in systems that aren’t even accessible anymore. And the knowledge of the client’s circumstances with the advisor or company representative responsible is limited. How can one advisor be on top of the details of hundreds of files anyway?
New regulations lead to a portfolio risk
New regulations can prompt a need for advice. The client may realize this and ask an advisor their questions. Will they call your company? Or the competition? Maintaining a client relationship can decrease the risk of churn. But the risk for your organization is even larger when they don’t realize they need advice. And then are confronted with the consequences at a later stage.
The solution is to reach out to clients actively. It is vital to be critical about
- Which clients are approached and
- How these clients are contacted.
Active client management allows organizations to find the ideal balance.
What exactly is active client management?
Active client management brings together client data, calculation rules, and other rules and processes.
1. Data
The data comes from various systems. It is key to consolidate, enrich and update the data. External databases and calculations can help this process. Think of calculating a new value for a home based on current house values.
2. Rules
Calculations and decision rules are applied to the data. This is done in a flexible way. Based on new regulations, the rules can be adjusted. Or a new ruling can be added. We call this hyper-agility: the ability to respond instantly to change. Rules can apply to calculations, like calculating a loan-to-value, but they could also apply to family composition, date of birth, profession, or any other value in your database.
3. Process
You then define the context in which you want to reach out to your client in a particular way, using the data and the rules. And you define the processes you want to apply in that context.
Simple matters may be dealt with in a digital way. For complex advice, you would want to reach out to your client differently. The faster you can set up a process or adjust it, the bigger the difference you can make in your client’s life.
An efficient system allows you to offer digital support where possible and personal attention more selectively, and only when it adds true value based on transparent criteria. It allows you to make your processes
- More efficient
- More personal
- More inclusive.
At Rulecube, we consider active client management part of the smart advice cycle: Guided Advice, Prevalidation, and Active management. If you want personalized advice on how active client management could work for you, get your Rulecube demo here.
