How do you deliver the best customer service?
We listened to our clients. We said, OK, what is your risk tolerance? How do you feel about the future? How do you feel about the markets? We can be as disciplined as we can be, but if you’re not comfortable and you’re not sleeping at night, we don’t want you there. We want you to be happy.
Another thing that we do is we stay in contact with our clients all the time. Not only are we sending out monthly newsletters to our clients, but we do client appreciation events. We just care for them and they know that we’re here for them all the time.
Where we feel our biggest values come is when their life situation changes, we want to be there for them. Whether it be helping them filing a claim with long-term care insurance — instead of just passing it on to the insurance company. Let us help them with that.
[We have] customer service to the point that on the weekends, our company phones get forwarded to one of our assistant’s cell or my cell phone. We get a surprised voice on the other end of the phone that says, ‘I didn’t realize that you were working today,’ or, ‘Why are you working today?’ and we answer back — ‘We’re not working but we’re taking the calls.’
A lot of it is just staying with good customer service, taking care of clients but, more importantly, educating them. We want to listen to our clients and do what’s right for them.
What’s the key to effective listening?
Don’t do anything in a hurry. I may visit with people three or four times before they ever become a client. I don’t have a time frame. I have a strategy that the first interview I have with a client is just get-to-know-them time. I get a snapshot of what their situation is.
I know what questions to ask, and I listen to what their responses are. That directs me on how to proceed with them. Basically it’s taking good notes, hearing what their concerns are, hearing what their goals are and helping them with a budget — that’s critical.
People want honesty. They don’t want someone to make them feel good. They want to know, ‘Here’s where you’re at and here’s how you can get there.’ They want a solution. That’s where we come back with a solution. Then, at that point, we let them filter out and absorb all the information we shared. Then we come back and say, ‘Now, it’s time to act. Do you want to proceed with what our recommendations are? You let us know.’ And because we’re educators first, people respect that. They make the decision whether they become a client of ours or not.
How to reach: The Lloyd Group Inc., (770) 932-0387 or www.thelloydgroupinc.com
