Many of you have been in the business longer than I have, but none of us have ever experienced the fear, confusion and anxiety that our clients are under during this global pandemic. Our firm had already been doing most of our group and individual enrollments online and depending on the advisor, 10-25% of our client meetings were already via videoconference and those percentages were growing.
When this hit, my partners and I sat down with our operations manager, identified what was happening, how clients would likely react to this and how we could help them. There were multiple layers to this issue: people were scared of the virus, some were losing jobs or getting a reduced income while working. And on top of that, the global markets were on the verge of plummeting—causing investor confidence to drop as well.
Here is the multipoint plan we put in place:
- Prepare all staff to move to 100% Zoom video conference and phone calls. The great news is all our people have been using the platform for years during training and client meetings.
- Stop worrying about new clients, get on the phone and call every single current client you have. It was as simple as “I am just calling to see how you are, is there anything we can do for you?” This was empathy, we were not concerned about their plan or portfolio, just the person and their family. We had some amazing conversations with our clients at a depth we had never reached before, and they appreciated it so much. During our Tuesday trainings, our advisors would constantly say, “My client just said it is so good to hear your voice.”
- Communication: We immediately implemented a Zoom group call for all our clients. They could dial in on their phone or listen through Zoom while we gave them market updates. Fortunately, through our outstanding relationships with several economists we were able to give them some unbiased information, something they were definitely not getting through the media. However, we steered clear of predicting what the economy, market or virus would do. We focused on historic data through wars, depressions, recessions, and civil unrest. What we showed is that the market eventually recovers, and we have a plan in place that is prepared for this. We did two of these per week at first, then reduced it to once per week and twice per month.
- We didn’t wait for a global pandemic: We have been doing monthly client education events for over 10 consecutive years now. We feel this was one of the best tools that kept our clients from panicking. We have continually discussed how markets can be volatile and prepared them for what to do far in advance. This was we just needed to call and reinforce what we had been teaching.
- Coaching: One of the first things we did was get our own employees together and let them know we were not going to lay off or cut hours for anyone. My partners and I are well-prepared to weather any storm and although there was a drop in our AUM, we took 100% of the hit; we did not feel our employees should. This was critical, it let our team know they were safe and could focus on the clients.
In the end, we had a plan in place, but this was beyond anything we had expected or prepared for. I am sure there are things we could have done better but we implemented our action plan, stayed flexible and most importantly communicated with everyone.
Robert Young is Managing Partner of One2One Wealth Strategies. He is a 2019 Elite Advisor.
Opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NTSA or its members.
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