How are your Internal Systems?

I just returned from a couple of days in our business in Fresno, California. It was a great experience, and there were lots of fabulous clients. The employees were very motivated and energized — you could feel it when you walked into the building. Their new monthly records being hit and overall, there was great momentum in the coming year. They were flooded with introductory traffic. Most of what I was working on was improving ratios that have slipped due to volume and renewal ratios.

In working with them — with a target of really being a million-dollar-a-year business by the end of the year — I reviewed our standard approach to going from mediocre to fantastic.

First step: fix processes and systems. Look at your monthly retention rate and reduce your monthly dropout rate to less than 3% of your active clients. If it’s 5% or above you’ve got to figure out where the problem lies. If you have a problem, it boils down to the quality of the products and services you provide, your employees or the overall customer process. It’s important to chunk it down appropriately.

To improve your retention, take a look at a couple of important considerations.

1.?????The first few months are only about getting the client committed. Help them have success. If they feel successful, then they will happily expand the relationship with you (for instance expanding AUM,) include family members, bring you referrals.

2.?????Make sure there is a regular process. If the client is concerned about anything to do with their purchases, ensure you have a process in place to help them where it's needed.

3.?????Make sure you hire staff who are more concerned about their clients than themselves. Those who are well trained and have a genuine interest in making their customers happy are the ones you should aim to have. Many of us make the mistake of hiring staff based upon talent, but it's empathy and sincere concern for your clients that is more important.

4.?????Keep track. What gets measured gets done. Pay close attention to the inner running of the business; which clients are voicing complaints, which ones are thinking of downgrading their service or quitting completely; which ones are upgrading etc. The point is you must make a huge effort to retain your customers and ensure they renew year after year. Track this, know what your average loss of customers and try to figure out if there's any pattern to it.