Mail Madness! Simple customer service that’s easy to forget

I can’t remember the exact date that I got my very first e-mail, envelopebut since that fateful moment I’ve been under its spell.

I will not be alone in thinking that e-mail has controlled me and been the thief of time over the last 15+ years or so.

I also have tried on many occasions to change my relationship with the electronic menace and to better disciplined (like my colleagues!) and have better “systems” for dealing with my inbox.

Whether its just a symptom of my personality or just plain stupidity, nothing has really worked until now…

I have now discovered a fantastic system that sorts out my emails into the really important ones and the ones that can be read later and puts them into my inbox or not.

It does a whole lot more besides and I’m not doing it justice here but that is only a small part of the point I wanted to make.

The reason I so happy with my new email system is not just that it works and does what I need it to do, but it was the experience from a customer perspective that rang my bell most.

The trialing and buying of the system was all done remotely and was just fine, but there is always that slight feeling of “what have I done” after handing over money when I’d had no contact with anyone at the company.

One personal email thanking me for purchasing from the system’s owner and creator (correctly allowed into my inbox!), and I felt vindicated, valued and happy.

I did actually email him back to say how I felt and the real point is saying thanks to your clients and customers is key to ensuring that they or their business don’t feel taken for granted.

It’s such a simple thing to do that we simply don’t do enough.

Thanks to Stuart for reminding me to thank my customers better and more often.

Back to my emails I think…

Roland Oliver

PS – please get in touch if you want to know more about the system.

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The Price of Advice

In the build-up to – and in the aftermath of – the Retail Distribution Review advisers up and down the country have been scrambling to find a charging mechanism that works.

For many the end of commission has been a death knell; bond pushers that used to take up to 7% initial and advisers that offer no ongoing service have found themselves suddenly having to become transparent and losing client interest as a result.

There is no doubting that this is a very positive thing; for a long time the smoke and mirrors in financial services have served to cloud the clear picture to consumers.

In terms of pure economics, the worst thing about lack of transparency in a marketplace is the fact that the market cannot operate efficiently and competition is hindered. And the moment competition is hindered consumers get a bad deal.

For a charging structure to ‘work’ it must be fair, not daunting, actually cover the work being done and cover costs the clients don’t see – regulation, compliance, software etc.

The charging structure must also be manageable. We have seen difficulties with some investment platforms as to the logistics of how the product fees to the adviser are actually generated. Some say nothing has changed, some require a wet signature on a fee statement for each and every piece of business, and some require us to manage a time consuming and complex method of moving money around within a client’s investment to cover charges.

As a business trying to do the best by our clients and get paid properly for the valuable work we do, without any hidden agenda, it can be challenging.Edinburgh_Castle_-_geograph.org.uk_-_28

We have discussed every way we can structure our fees so that they are attractive, fair, workable, easy to implement and simple.

Each time we reach this undeniable fact: a simple initial and ongoing fee, not linked to the value of the assets managed and paid externally from any platform, is the only way forward.

It will take time to implement fully, but we shall be extracting ourselves from any overly complicated or confusing charging and shouting the virtues of this from the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle.

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