|
Protecting Your Retirement Plan Business
ADOPTING A STRATEGIC approach to acquire, retain
and protect clients is essential to growing your
business. Have you developed meaningful, long-term
strategic tools to retain clients, and is your
retirement plan solutions provider on board to help you
employ those strategies?
A provider
who offers a comprehensive range of services and support
can help you protect hard-earned plans. Don’t make the
mistake of spending time, energy and money on marketing
efforts to garner new clients while ignoring valuable
existing clients.
A provider who works closely with you can help cultivate
the strong, long-term relationships necessary to retain
and grow your book of business. Your provider can be
your closest ally in passing along critical information
about what clients believe is important to the success
of their plans. Regular communication with your provider
and your clients allows you to stay on top of the plan
and its ongoing needs.
“Our
provider offers us insights into the attitudes and
behaviors of plan sponsors, and we use that knowledge to
provide a higher level of service to our clients," said
Neal Sachs, a financial advisor with Smith Barney in
Torrance, California. "Our record keeper helps
strengthen our relationships with our plan sponsors
because we truly work in partnership with them."
The
partnership with your retirement solutions provider
should consistently add value to your clients. Your
provider should deliver:
-
a
dedicated account executive who serves as a single
point of contact for day-to-day business concerns
and provides personalized service to you and your
clients.
-
continuous and consistent service enhancements that
meet the changing needs of your business and your
clients’ plans.
-
proactive communication, such as e-mail alerts, to
keep you and your clients informed of plan events
that are scheduled to happen or have just occurred.
By tapping
into the strengths of your provider, you are seizing a
powerful opportunity to grow and sustain business well
into the future.
Remember
that it costs less to keep an existing client than it
does to gain a new one. Be a resource for your clients
by sharing ideas and contacts that might make their jobs
easier. Know your clients – pay attention to triggers
that may push them to seek change. Welcome feedback and
suggestions from your clients so you may determine how
better to serve them. And be sure to share the feedback
you receive with your provider to make sure your
clients’ needs are being met on every level.
Working in partnership with your provider to protect
your business, you can reap the rewards of building a
stable base of loyal clients.
|
