Why Use Consensus:
By offering the Consensus program to you at no cost, BlackRock’s goal is to provide you with a quick and easy to deploy survey program that will help you measure client feedback from your retail customers in an efficient, effective and meaningful manner.
- Demonstrate your personal commitment to continuous improvement by assessing current levels of client satisfaction across your entire book of business.
- Better understand your customers in order to meet (and exceed) customer expectations, make better decisions and increase retention rates.
- Benchmark yourself against other advisors to see your scores on an absolute and relative basis.
- Generate quantitative and qualitative feedback to better understand clients’ perceptions of your performance, as well as your support staff.
- Identify cross-sell opportunities to broaden the spectrum of services you offer clients.
- Identify potential ‘At Risk’ accounts. Learn reasons for dissatisfaction and gather critical information to improve these relationships.
2 Easy Steps to Get Started Using Consensus:
It is very easy to get started on Consensus. All you need to do is:
- Email your personalized survey invitation to your retail clients. Once received, your clients simply click the link and fill in the survey.
- Access your results by logging onto Anova’s website (www.anovaconsulting.com), clicking on “Advisor Login”, and entering your user name and password. Your personal results dashboard is updated in real time and you can log in at any point to see what your clients are saying about you.
Survey Invitation to Clients
Your first step to gathering client satisfaction information is to send a survey invitation email to your retail client base – the invitation includes a link to your personalized survey document. A sample template is below. Feel free to customize the email to reflect your personal communication style.
SUBJECT: Client Satisfaction Survey
My firm is conducting a client satisfaction study, and I am reaching out to you to request your valuable feedback.
Enclosed is a link to the survey that I am inviting you to complete at your earliest convenience. The purpose of the survey is to evaluate my performance as your financial advisor.
Because of the importance of this initiative, my practice has partnered with Anova Consulting Group, a leading market research firm, to conduct the survey and to provide independent analysis of the results.
The survey has been designed to take no more than 5 minutes to complete. To respond, please go to [INSERT YOUR SURVEY LINK]. Finally, please note that you have the option of keeping your responses confidential.
My goal is to learn as much as I can in order to enhance service and better meet your needs. Thank you in advance for your participation.
Sincerely,
[INSERT YOUR NAME]
Tips for Maximizing Response Rates
- Consider sending your survey invitations either on a Monday or Tuesday. In Anova’s extensive experience conducting client satisfaction research, we have found respondents are more likely to complete a survey during the earlier part of the week.
- If appropriate, consider assigning an assistant or other office resource to administer the Consensus survey (that is, gathering client email addresses, determining appropriate contacts, sending initial survey invitation, sending periodic reminder emails).
- 2 weeks after the initial invitation is sent, send a follow-up communication to gently remind non-respondents that the survey is in the field. See below for sample content for a survey reminder email. (Repeat after an additional 2 weeks.)
- Consider adding your survey link (e.g., “Tell us what you think…”) to your website or your email signature block. This will allow you to gather additional feedback from your client base over time.
- When addressing client feedback gathered from the survey, we recommend that you not reference the survey directly. Based on Anova’s experience, the best practice to ensure continued open lines of communication is to resolve the client service issue while avoiding direct confrontation on specific survey comments.
Follow-up Email to Clients
SUBJECT: Reminder: Client Satisfaction Survey
I recently sent you an e-mail inviting you to participate in my firm’s client satisfaction study. I very much value your feedback. If you have not yet had a chance to complete the survey, I am reaching out to you to request your participation in this important initiative.
The survey has been designed to take no more than 5 minutes to complete. To respond, please go to [INSERT YOUR SURVEY LINK]. Finally, please note that you have the option of keeping your responses confidential.
My goal is to learn as much as I can in order to enhance service and better meet your needs. Thank you for your participation.
Sincerely,
[INSERT YOUR NAME]