This One Step Can Shift Your Entire Client Experience Program Into Gear

Key Points

• Aligning brand and client experience ensures your firm’s credibility, retention, and long-term growth.
• Listening programs and friction-point analysis help identify where client interactions can be improved for measurable impact.
• Establishing governance for client experience turns insights into consistent, firm-wide action.

What would you say if I asked you to describe your firm’s client experience program? If your answer is providing great service, the occasional client survey, or maybe a blank stare, your firm could be at risk.  

I recently sat down with Mitch Reno from Rehmann to talk about his work in client experience.  Traditionally, when an organization creates a brand, the next step is to tell others about it. But as Mitch says, “How do we create great experiences that really formulate what the brand is versus just going out and telling people?” 

At Inovautus, we believe the client experience is the expression of your brand. It’s a combination of every moment and every touchpoint an organization has with its clients. This experience begins at the initial research phase and continues into selection, onboarding, and the ongoing experience your client has with your firm year in and year out. 

If your brand and client experience aren’t telling the same story, this misalignment could impact your credibility and reputation. To ensure your client gets the right experience throughout the buying journey from your team, firm leaders must plan for strategic alignment and training. Here are some easy steps to get you going: 

Develop a listening program:

This should be a series of different activities that give you a well-rounded idea of how your clients and associates interact with your firm. Activities include surveys, client satisfaction or NPS scores, focus groups, one-on-one client interviews, and client shadowing.  

• TIP: Train and involve your associates to assist in the client interviews. Working with the next generation or future leaders can help uncover hidden friction points and feedback.   

Mine for friction points:

Look for areas where it has become difficult for clients to work with the firm. What pain points are causing frustration, and how can you improve them? Your resolutions don’t need to deploy massive changes to move the needle. Adjustments of any size can be extremely impactful on the perception of your firm.  

• TIP: Walk in your client’s shoes. Start at your website, review your firm’s communication policies, analyze the touchpoints from start to finish, and take client feedback to heart. As you expose sticky areas, immediately put a remediation plan in place. 

Look at the governance of client experience:

Designating a person or group to oversee the program is crucial to implementing changes across the board. (For larger firms, this step will be much more involved.) Furthermore, this person or team will be responsible for anticipating how changes within the firm will impact the client experience.  

Perception drives success 

“People make decisions about their feelings and then think of reasons to support (or act on) those feelings,” Mitch Reno explains. This is as true in the business-to-business (B2B) world as in business-to-client scenarios. When a client is underwhelmed or off-put by your firm’s performance (technical and relational), you’d better believe they will have feelings about it. Feelings are undoubtedly correlated to values, which we can all agree are a driving force in decision-making.  

If your brand marketing is telling clients and prospects one thing, but their interactions with your firm are telling something else, that disconnect will cause frustration and potentially lead to their departure. Ensuring the perception of your firm aligns with the experience of your firm is vital to the success of your business development efforts.  

Building a client experience program will not happen overnight, but it won’t happen at all if you don’t start. Take the first steps, make incremental changes, and get ready for the results. 

We’re here to help! If you’d like to discuss how to implement a client experience program at your firm, reach out to the team at Inovautus Consulting today.