Which area do retirement advisors think they add the most value to clients: Governance, investments, administration, or education? Education was the choice of advisors polled at the 2018 NAPA 401(k) Summit – almost 50 percent picked it as being of most value to their clients. Governance was next in numbers of votes, then investments, then administration. But what do clients say they value? Conference panelists and plan sponsors Richard Clegg, Marjorie Mann, and Jake Nichols offered their view from the employer client side. Josh Dietch of T.Rowe Price played panel provocateur. "Each of these is important, but governance is the most important, because that's something I'm the least familiar with," Richard said. Richard is corporate treasurer for a privately held employee recognition and reward solutions company headquartered in Utah, with offices worldwide and over a thousand employees. Marjorie, who is a senior attorney at one of the largest power utilities in the U.S., said governance was not as important, because "that's much of my role, to keep compliance top of mind. Investment advice and actual education is most relied on." Jake heads HR for his family's heavy-duty truck dealership, based in Indiana, which employs 600 people. "I'm passionate about education but governance for our group is critical to do first." All three plan sponsors have been working with their current advisor for more than five years, and all three have been through the RFP process in searching for an advisor. So they've learned some lessons from working with advisors. And while governance, education, investments and even administration are important, they offered three more ways advisors can add value for their plan sponsor clients. Check out the slideshow above or additional text below. 1. Plan sponsors want to be challenged. Jake's advisor challenged the trucking company to increase the level of plan participation and to bring the level of deferrals up. "They said this number's okay, but you could be here and here's what we think we should try." They showed him what other clients had done to achieve similar goals, and they provided facts and figures about why Jake's company might want to do the same. Based on that, the company decided to proceed. And, he said, they've been successful. "But if we did it on our own, we wouldn't have gotten it done." Advisors' suggestions are considered, Marjorie said, "As long as you are documenting why you have chosen to do what you've chosen to do. Part of the relationship is to come with all of your facts and if you're able to share what other clients are doing and share trends, it's positive." 2. Realize that "No" doesn't mean "Never." Richard's advisors suggest ideas or tools, "and sometimes it just doesn't happen – the board or the committee shoots it down." That doesn't stop them from continuing to suggest things. "The advisors can always say 'hey, maybe next year' and raise those issues again in the future." "Don't give up if we shoot you down," Jake said. He's excited about some financial wellness programs and how they could take the financial stress out of employees' lives. But there are other important employee-related issues he has to work on first, "So just because we're not doing it now, doesn't mean we won't in the future." Whether you call it nudging, prodding, or persistence, advisors' suggestions might be followed -- eventually. Marjorie's staff wanted the company executives to offer auto-escalation, but "There never was any interest. Then last year the CEO said, 'Why don't we do some auto-escalation too.' We were like 'That's a great idea!'" 3. Value the relationship. An advisor who comes in and takes the time to get to know the company, the culture, and the employees and executives will be more appreciated, Richard said. And that knowledge will help advisors understand the company's retirement philosophy. Honesty and good communication skills are fundamental to the relationship, Marjorie added. "You're dealing with many experience levels and education levels. Being a good communicator who can take feedback and act on it is important." Employers are facing many challenges, so in addition to the relationship-building skills, there must be expertise. "Be the experts, fix these problems for us. When you do that, we will continue to do business," Jake said. Keep good records of your discussions and clients' interests, and follow up – "Be the one who remembers," Marjorie said. "Have a scope of services that everybody agreed to and review it periodically, and make adjustments if necessary. That's where the relationship comes in." And lastly, there's trust. "I want to be able to call my advisor and ask for help. I don't want to hesitate to call them or wonder if it's a good time," Richard said. "Knowing that I can get them on the phone and talk about it is huge for me. It puts me at ease."