 
By Helen Thompson
Customer service seems like it should be easy. After all, we've all been customers somewhere! Yet, advisors often mention it as something they want guidance in. That's because most advisors know customer service is at the heart of any practice, and they want to know how to improve.
We spoke with Marc Bregman, who took over Bregman Financial and Insurance Services Inc. in Lodi, Calif., from his father three years ago, to discover his secrets to Million Dollar Round Table success. This NAIFA-Stockton member doesn't cold call and never asks for referrals; his customer service standards are what bring people to him in the first place and back over and over again. He shared seven tips to help you finesse your customer service skills.
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“When it comes to working with a client, I don't care about the sale. I care about the client.” |
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1. Manage your time wisely. Your time is your clients' time. Bregman starts his day early so that he can be up and at the gym before starting his workday—at around 6:30 a.m. “I do much of my work before the phone starts ringing at 8:30,” he says. “If I haven't gotten some of that work done, the rest of the day goes so fast that there's no way for me to get anything else done.”
2. Stay in touch. Always call your clients back as soon you can—the same day, at the latest. Remember their birthdays, send them calendars and newsletters, do whatever you can to stay in front of them in a positive way. “You don't want to be constantly badgering them to buy something else from you,” says Bregman. “But getting together for breakfast or lunch or doing an annual review will keep you on the forefront of your clients' minds.”
3. Always follow through. You are your clients' best chance at making sure everything goes right. Prevent mistakes before they happen—even if they wouldn't be your fault. “When we forward a client's application to the insurance company, we don't just fax it in and assume that it's done,” Bregman says. “We call within a week to make sure that the insurance company has received the information.”
4. Don't avoid difficult situations. Sometimes, they are your best opportunity to show how good you are. “Rather than avoid difficult situations, approach them with confidence,” says Bregman. “If you deal with them quickly and are willing do whatever is in your power to do to make it right, your clients will be more forgiving when things go wrong.”
5. Use the golden rule. Time-honored and still true: Treat others the way you would want to be treated. But know that your clients aren't you, and that it's just as important to treat others the way they want to be treated. “You should be able to step outside of a situation and look at it from a different perspective,” says Bregman.
6. Stay up-to-date. Your customers expect you to stay current. Don't become a has-been—think forward. Not only will that help you avoid becoming stale, it will also show that you're in it for the long haul with them. “If someone asks you how long you've been in the business, tell him how long you plan on being in the business,” says Bregman. “It's really what they're asking.”
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“If someone asks you how long you've been in the business, tell him how long you plan on being in the business.”
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7. Get a second opinion. Let someone else have a look at how you're doing. “Have a third party come in and analyze how you work,” says Bregman, who works closely with an outside marketing consultant for surveys and analysis. “We found it very beneficial to get outside opinions about how the business is running.”
The easy part of customer service is that it really is common sense, Bregman says. Put yourself in other people's shoes and you can't go wrong. But the hard part is that when you do a really good job at customer service, you end up with too much work. Make sure that everyone in your office knows your customer service standards and holds to them, so that when you're ready to hand work over to your team, they are up to speed. “You're not just a salesperson; you're running a business,” says Bregman, who works with a lot of business owners himself. “When it comes to working with a client, I don't care about the sale. I care about the client and doing the best thing for them.”
June 2005
A Lifestyle Decision
Keep It REAL
Setting Up Your Own Financial Services Practice
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