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Like most established businesses, we at Reilly Financial Advisors have steadily increased our reliance on technology over the years to enhance our operational efficiency. Technology has helped us grow and improve our economies of scale. Most importantly, it has also helped us provide our clients better, more personalized service, a focus which is central to our continued success.
Along the way, we have discovered that the truest measure of successful technological innovation isn’t necessarily Return on Investment (ROI), it’s what we think of as Return on Service (ROS).
Since our inception, our firm made has made a commitment to deliver highly personalized service to every client. That promise is still our primary consideration across all our lines of business, and it applies equally to the evaluation and implementation of new technologies. Return on Service to our clients is our fundamental yardstick of success.
Truly personalized service begins with client contact, and it is extended by the resources we dedicate to initiating and maintaining that contact. In other words, our definition of service revolves around the nature and quality of the time we actually spend with clients. And it isn’t always the big things that matter the most; sometimes it’s the basics!
Over 10 years ago, RFA made a commitment that a real person would answer every phone call and welcome every visitor. Our clients don’t just expect the phone to be answered promptly and with courtesy - they expect it to be answered by someone they know, like, and can rely on. Our Administrative Services Manager, Shanda, is their first point of contact, and time and again, they have told us that dealing with her is a breath of fresh air that they greatly appreciate.
In that same spirit of personalized client service, we recently decided that a manual workflow management process was the best for new clients. A consultant recommended a complex, automated system. While it would have eliminated a few steps in our process, it would also have diminished our Return on Service, so for us it wasn’t the best choice!
