Fort Tilden Financial needs a 'step back' moment.
Their leadership team recently made a realization while reviewing their business metrics through their CRM.
They are spending an inordinate amount of time with certain clients -and not enough time with others.
As they approach $1 billion in assets, now feels like the right time to reconsider their approach to client segmentation and corresponding service levels.
However, CEO Cal is dragging his feet. He is struggling with a simple question - can Fort Tilden evolve its client service model while still being proud of the experience they deliver for every client?
Quotes from the team
COO, Sarah: "We have a simple math problem on our hands. There are not enough hours in the day...if we don't change how we do things, we cannot scale."
Advisor, Michael: "We do not have the discipline actually to adjust our service levels based on the tiers. Every client gets the same thing."
Client Service, Carrie: "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."
Advisor, Aaron: "Once per year, we sort an Excel spreadsheet by household assets, put people into tiers, then call it a day."
Operations, Lenny: "Our less profitable relationships require more effort. For example, it's our next-gen clients who require hand-holding. Whereas our long-term relationships in retirement are on autopilot to some extent."
Chief Investment Officer, Chris: "The needs of our $10m+ clients are not the same as those of mass affluent. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous. So I am excited to rethink how we do things. Ideally, it frees me up to spend more time dealing with the complex needs of larger clients."
CMO, Julie: "Depending on where we land with this...I could see us communicating it publicly as part of our value proposition."
CEO, Cal: "I have never looked at people as walking wallets. So I'm a bit concerned about doing this, because I don't want our client experience to suffer."
Questions to consider
1. How should Fort Tilden Financial approach this process?
2. How does your firm think about meeting client needs? For example, do you serve everyone exactly the same way, or do you put more effort into certain relationships?
3. As you grow, how might your firm benefit from more deliberate segmentation? How could you use technology to do so?
4. Do you use asset-based segmentation? What are the pros and cons to doing so? Have you ever considered doing it differently?
5. Has your firm ever done a 'unit economics' analysis to see how much it costs to serve each client? Do you use your CRM to gauge how much time/ effort it truly takes to serve each client?
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