What does the client care about?

Research by Redline Advisors indicates that clients consistently look for four or five specific types of attributes in virtually all products, whether tangible or intangible:

Ease of use
Timeliness
Certainty (consistency, accuracy, reliability, predictability, safety)
Cost to own/use
Variety/choice

Putting the client at the center

It is unrealistic to expect any organization to dramatically change overnight. So, let's look at some things you can begin to do that will improve your positioning:

One simple way is to begin adding client-focused measures. Rather than focus only on short-term goals, reward sales people based on how many connections that add to their network of relationships, or their contributions to a client information databank.
A second way is to refocus marketing so it is accountable for results. Borrow a page from direct response marketing and continually test to measure and improve results. What drives results? Delivering to the target market a product that those people want, and communicating the benefits in a language that they are comfortable with. Give them choices and initiate a dialog with them.
A third way is to establish an open blog or forum where your clients can post comments about you and your service. This is a pretty frightening idea. If you're afraid of what those people will say, then you might question how client-focused you really are.

In Conclusion

The point of this article is that the world of consumers is moving very fast, faster than the world of financial and insurance firms. As a result, firms are seen as less client-focused. And, the result of that is consumers are turning to other sources of information. Are those sources reliable? Maybe not. But, until the industry addresses this issue, consumers have no option. And, that situation affects you.

Instant Insights /

The Myth of Client-Focus

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