There was once a time when a financial professional’s only competition was other financial professionals. It was also a time when consumers selected products from the shelf at a store and found whatever services they needed by searching the Yellow Pages.

In recent years, however, the advent of ecommerce, or online shopping, has introduced a whole new dimension to the purchasing process that affects consumer psychology on multiple levels: the client experience, or CX.

Now that online shopping has become a daily activity for most people, these client experiences are happening everywhere, at all hours of the day. Roughly 65% of Americans have an Amazon Prime membership,¹ making its impact on consumer psychology undeniable. Now that we’ve grown accustomed to this level of convenience, any product that isn’t easy to use, next-day-shipped, and purchased at the lowest available price is bound to be a disappointment.

The CX bar has been raised

Considering how pervasive this mindset has become, it should come as no surprise that it applies to the client-advisor relationship as well. Whether they’re aware of it or not, clients are comparing the experience they have with their financial professional to everything else they pay for in their lives.

The main takeaway is this: if you’re not hyper-focused on your client experience, people are not likely to choose you as their financial advisor. That may sound harsh, but it’s true.

The good news is, there are proven strategies you can adopt to elevate your CX. Following are a few key ideas to implement that can help you stand out from the competition (i.e., the roughly 260,000 financial professionals in the United States).²

Identify your UBT

One of the most powerful things you can do for your business is to identify your Unique Business Tranche, or UBT. To define your UBT, you will need to determine who your ideal client is on a deep, granular level. I always say, “go small, then even smaller” to find a group you have a natural affinity for and with whom you can build a competitive advantage.

When I say small, I mean small. “Gen X” is not a UBT. Nor is “Instagram users.” Keep zeroing in until you get to something along the lines of: “Gen X social media influencers with multiple streams of passive income.”

Your UBT may seem uncomfortably narrow at first. However, I can assure you that if you’re serving one group of clients exceptionally well because you’re fully focused on them, you’ll see the reward. I’m talking about unparalleled client loyalty, glowing reviews, and referrals galore. Not to mention, you’ll be more satisfied on a personal level while working with clients you enjoy the most.

Then, walk in their shoes scroll in their feed

Once you’ve defined your UBT, it’s crucial to learn about how various products and services are being presented to these individuals in their day-to-day lives. Remember, these are the experiences clients and prospects are using as a gauge for your own CX.

With that in mind, one exercise I typically recommend is to create a profile on social media solely for the purpose of seeing what your ideal clients receive in their newsfeed.

Using this “fake” profile, follow and like only those accounts that your UBT clients would follow, and then see what pops into the newsfeed as a result. Don’t just scroll past each post – take the time to dive into the client experience to get a feel for the standard your client is being conditioned to expect. Are they being targeted by companies that help conserve the environment? Do companies they might interact with allow you to text them as a mode of communication? These are ideas to consider when enhancing your own CX to attract and retain your ideal clients.

Create a WOW client experience

A financial professional who knows their UBT and continues to do research on them now has just one thing left to do: Use this information to provide a client experience that WOWs. You know exactly who your clients are and what they expect for their hard-earned money. Now, use this information to create an experience that exceeds those expectations to fulfill their unstated needs.

To learn more about [jh_content_filter spoke=”uspa”]The Art of WOW[/jh_content_filter][jh_content_filter spoke=”itpa”]The Art of WOW[/jh_content_filter], contact your Janus Henderson sales director for additional resources.