We all want a ‘whole’ client not a ‘partial client’. A whole client is one who is totally engaged with us as their accountants.
Unfortunately, too often we accept half a client or a quarter of a client who discuss just some of their needs and wants with us. We need to understand the whole picture and all our client’s most important things. It’s about defining what approach you take to your clients and how you offer and deliver your services to them. Our worldwide advisory services group use the phrase ‘Whole of Client’ to describe a wholly client-centric way of working with clients. So, what does ‘Whole of Client’ mean?
It means an approach that is dictated by several important factors:
▪ Your positioning of your client services
▪ Your articulation of what you do for them
▪ Your delivery of your services
Importantly, it’s about when these services START. This should be right at the beginning as part of your advisory onboarding process. This requires you to make it all about the client, not your services or your firm, by providing an initial big picture, one-hour review which starts with a ‘Whole of Client’ perspective that looks at:
– The client’s overall wealth, including their business
– Their goals and aspirations
– AND aims to build client plans to achieve these goals for their wealth and then their business
Only then do you deliver, on an agreed basis, specialist input to fill in some of their gaps, such as:
– Cloud-based key performance management
– Tax planning
– Financial services advice
– Performance improvement services
The key is offering an approach that is TRULY client-centric, so that clients see this and understand it.
That’s the magic of a ‘Whole of Client’ approach and it provides you with:
▪ Strong differentiation, with a TRULY client-centric stance
▪ Happy clients who will:
– Stay longer
– Spend more money with you
– Refer you more often
▪ An approach to win QUALITY new clients, whilst avoiding the hard sale
It’s simple, it’s subtly different and it’s powerful. You could say – it’s MAGICAL!
