As we mentioned last month in the first half of our series on customer experiences, outstanding customer service is a key component of the customer experience. In-depth product knowledge and expertise are essential for financial professionals, but that knowledge can only take you so far. To meet the ever-increasing expectations of today’s investors, armed with a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips, financial professionals must take care to ensure the service they provide is timely and personalized.

In a recent survey of global asset management CEOs, 71% said they are concerned about the availability of digital skills in the industry. That certainly causes concerns, especially when one considers that digital tools may offer the best possible solution to financial professionals hoping to wow their clients. With that in mind, here are three tools you should consider using to deliver an amazing customer experience.

1. Keep an eye on industry news

Clients rely on financial professionals to stay ahead of the news and provide them with advice based on the latest market conditions. But nobody can read every news source every day! Consider setting up alerts using a tool like Google Alerts to receive daily updates on the subjects that matter most to your clientele. You can also use the service as a monitoring tool for your own online presence, allowing you to respond promptly to any comments on your online channels.

2. Keep your relationship status current with CRM

Providing personalized service is an essential element of delivering an excellent customer experience. Personalized service means knowing what stage of life your client is in, their risk tolerance, and their goals for the future. Investing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can help you have all of that information ready when you schedule a meeting or pick up the phone to take their call. You might want to look at Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, HubSpot or Zoho to see which CRM tool will work best for your business needs.

3. Keep improving your service

Feedback is something we all need to ensure that the client’s expectations are met. By taking the time to gather feedback and more importantly, to act on it, you show clients you are willing to go the extra mile to deliver an amazing client experience. You could ask for feedback directly, but you may find people are more candid if they’re able to provide it anonymously. Enter tools like Qualtrics, Survey Monkey, and UseResponse to help you collect feedback from your clients. This can allow you to continuously adjust your service offering to align it with client expectations.

As you can see, there is a wealth of options to help you manage the client experience, no matter which tools you choose, and no matter which tools you choose, they will ensure high-quality customer service. Stay tuned for the next edition of Beyond the Rate!

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