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Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
Dear Bev,
Whatever happened to a good old-fashioned phone call? My team of next-generation admin and operational people seem to believe that if you send an email, you then simply wait interminably for a response, even if you need the response and can’t do the rest of your work without it.
We’ve had several cases recently where a client needs a follow-up, the information has to come from somewhere else (such as an outside partner of ours) and an email is sent— then nothing. When I follow up with my team members, I get the answer, “I sent them an email but they haven’t responded.”
I’m always asking why we wouldn’t just call someone to follow up. After all, emails can get lost, or land in junk or spam folders, or even be missed entirely because something else comes up. It isn’t a foolproof way of getting an answer from someone. A dozen or more times, important emails have gone unnoticed and unanswered. When I talk with other peers of mine, they tell me, “That’s this generation, they don’t like the phone.”
If no one uses the phone, how do we ensure we are getting answers for our clients and doing what’s needed for them?
K.D
Dear K.D.,
This one goes in the category of technology supposedly making our lives much better but reliance on it making it more difficult sometimes to do what’s needed. I have heard similar things from my own clients, and the no-phone, no-call “rule” seems to be pervasive. There are a few reasons for this, in my opinion:
- It’s easier to check the box and say you did something by sending the email. Now the onus is on the other person to need to respond, so the sender is off the hook!
- Some people are uncomfortable with their own communication style and approach. They may think they don’t speak professionally enough or they will be judged somehow.
- It’s often no easier to get a human on the phone than it is to get a response via email, so they may have tried a call before and then given up on the idea when there was no response.
All of this said, I think you need to implement a set of best practices within your firm in order to shift this behavior. I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes having a written process — with explicitly defined steps to take — helps people shift what they are doing. You could, for example, establish a protocol for when a client calls and needs an answer that isn’t immediately available within your team. In such a case, your team member would proceed as follows:
- Let the client know you have to contact another party for the answer and you will keep them posted on timing.
- Send a clear email with a subject line outlining your exact need — including a deadline — to your contact. Use only bullets whenever possible in the email body. Keep it short and to the point. Highlight the section in which you are asking for something.
- Follow up immediately by leaving a voicemail saying you have sent an email. Note that the client is waiting to hear about timing so you’d appreciate it very much if the recipient could look at the email and let you know when they could answer it.
- If no response is given, follow up again, and instead of leaving an email, try to contact someone else at the person’s office to see if they are out or have been unavailable.
- Send a follow-up email asking them to move the request to the top of their inbox.
I know this seems like a simple set of steps that anyone could construct, but by having something in writing and asking your team to review it and offer any insights or need for training, it raises this issue in a more formal, business-practice manner. Give it a try, and see if it doesn’t change the way they are managing the process.
Dear Bev,
I know our industry has preached face-to-face interactions forever. Get in front of the client, know the client by seeing their office or their home, spend time with them, engage in out-of-the-office activities and so on. I get it, and I do it. But what about the client who says, “Zoom is fine,” or “I don’t need to spend time meeting,” or “A phone call update works for me”?
C.N.
Dear C.N.,
I love this question, to be honest, because it outlines perfectly the flaw in the absolutes. Is it great to meet with clients and spend time face-to-face? Of course it is. However, what’s even better is designing your approach around the needs and desires of each and every client. If I tell you that I don’t want — or need — to meet, then why are you pushing me?
Is it because you need to gain confidence by having face-to-face time with me? Or is it because you think you can expand our relationship through a meeting? Is it because you think I’m not sharing all of my financial secrets with you? Or is it because you have been told the face-to-face meeting is an imperative and you need to do it for your business, but not for me?
I’m not denigrating the idea of face-to-face meetings with clients. There is no question someone might respond differently when physically with you rather than on the phone or on Zoom. However, if your client doesn’t desire it, you don’t push it.
This doesn’t mean you simply leave that client alone and don’t try to deepen the relationship. Rather, it means you have to hone the art of asking really excellent probing and open-ended questions and adopting a true air of curiosity with the people you are speaking with. Stay interested. Ask the next question. Listen well. Don’t be distracted when on the phone or on Zoom.
Some of my favorite clients are ones I have never met, but we work well together, they trust me and they turn to me about things they might not share with anyone else. I deeply care about their success and want to know what they care about. I don’t need to ask them for an in-person visit, but that doesn’t mean I can’t find ways to get involved in their concerns, objectives and goals.
Find ways to segment your clients by those who want to be with you physically and those who do not. Have different strategies for how you will engage each group. You can make it work no matter what communication forum you use, even if sometimes it takes extra effort.
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry, in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. The firm has won the Wealthbriefing WealthTech award for Best Training Solution for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Beverly is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. She is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
