New Research Reveals A Two-Speed Industry On Client Feedback

Wendy Spires

15 May 2013

Systematically soliciting feedback from clients and then using this strategically might seem to be a “no-brainer”, but as yet this seems to be anything but the norm in today’s wealth management industry, according to WealthBriefing’s latest research report, The New Normal: Codifying Superior Client Experience In Wealth Management. .

Produced in association with Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, this groundbreaking research report is based on a survey of 346 industry professionals all around the world, along with 25 hours of interviews with 30 senior executives at leading wealth managers, consultancies and other pertinent organisations. In essence, it aims to gauge what firms are currently doing to enhance the client experience they deliver, and to offer best practice insights for future development.

The reader survey found that at present wealth management seems to be a two-speed industry when it comes to client feedback initiatives: while 40 per cent of firms regularly collate both qualitative and quantitative feedback from clients, at the same time 36 per cent of respondents said that their firm does not regularly collate client feedback at all. More positively, the survey indicates that a significant proportion of wealth managers are taking objective client feedback really seriously since 26 per cent of those surveyed said their institution employs an independent third party to regularly collate qualitative feedback from clients.

According to The New Normal, there is also a real divergence in how wealth managers are using client feedback data. While 48 per cent of firms use client feedback metrics as a KPI which in turn drive business strategy, over half are still not leveraging this data to the full at an institutional level. Even starker was the division in how client feedback is used at a staff level in performance management: according to the survey, 28 per cent of firms now use client feedback metrics as part of formal staff appraisals and the setting of discretionary compensation levels; the use of this data is far less systematised at most organisations.

A “new normal”?

Although the 28 per cent figure is relatively low, one expert contributor predicts that this practice could be the norm within five years or so. The merits of embedding client feedback in performance management is covered at some length in the report’s expert commentary, with the over-riding message being that firms need to ensure staff buy-in for any such initiative and reassure employees that they are emphatically not about a “blame game”.

Commenting on this issue, Anne Grim, global head of client experience at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, advised firms to emphasise the rationale behind the use of client feedback at the employee level. “From an employee perspective, in order to entrench the right behaviours, organisations needto show staff how powerful and valuable client feedback data can be,” she said.

The full 50-page report features a case study examining how client feedback is working for one global banking group, along with a wide range of interviews and focus pieces covering the full spectrum of client experience related issues. Senior executives and commentators were also brought together to feature in an extensive webcast outlining cutting-edge thinking on client experience topics.

To download your free copy of The New Normal: Codifying Superior Client Experience In Wealth Management click here.