July 20th, 2021

New Ways to Procure Clients: How Methods Have Adapted to Change

Over the last year or so, there has been an incredible need for quality financial advice. People have been talking to their neighbours, their colleagues, or their friends… and most of our business has been driven by referrals or contacts through our website and/or social media.

The challenge with brand new clients coming to us through these channels is that they don’t truly “know” us – and we haven’t developed trust over the course of 20-30 years, in the way that we have with some of our other clients.

In the past, we would have had four or five in-person meetings, in order to build trust; but after COVID-19, it has become more of a challenge for people to connect with us “face-to-face.”

The website + social media help with a digital footprint; and because most of our new clients these days come to us through referrals, they’ve done some of their due diligence already on these digital platforms. This increase in “research” lessens the number of meetings we have with new clients – but not by much.

In our minds, we remain acutely aware that someone is handing their life savings over to us – and we are, for the most part, strangers. Therefore, we strive to find new ways to create a trustworthy relationship without “seeing” a person face-to-face.

There are a vast number of people who have been seeking advice; and because we are an essential service, people have been permitted to meet us in the office with the right precautions in place. This has helped us continue to build trust – and we have also adapted to recent changes by giving clients a wider variety of options for getting to know us.

In the past, the default was to come in and have a meeting. Today, we suggest a phone call first, then a Zoom meeting, and finally, an in-person meeting in our boardroom.

While older clients and prospects prefer to come into the office, younger people don’t have a problem with Zoom or phone meetings.

This being said, if anyone (young or old) wants a face-to-face meeting, then we will ensure that they get one.

As always, we refuse to let anything get in the way of the quality, consistency or reliability of the services we provide to our past, current and future clients.

- Tony Sutey, CFP®, Senior Financial Advisor
Spire Advisors of Assante Capital Management Ltd.