Inactive Clientele is a hitch in almost all advisors smooth business paths. After a long uphill battle, we acquire a client, who initially is very excited to work with us, but after one or two investments, the excitement fades away and the client goes into a silent zone. We try to get the client back into action, but most times to no avail, and eventually that client becomes a part of our dormant account records. So, the sum and substance is, all your hardwork and efforts were in vain and you are back to square one, on the lookout for new clients. Here, what we do not realize is, the time, money and efforts that go into acquiring a new client is much more than servicing an existing one. Advisors are very excited to acquire new clients, but give up too soon on the inactive ones.
Inactive clients, in fact, are similar to new clients, they are to be re-incarnated from the state of passivity to a state of activity. The thin line of difference between the two, lies in the fact that you do not have to struggle with getting the latter on board and work a little lesser in re-establishing a relationship of trust. Hence an inactive client should be perceived as an opportunity and not as wastage of efforts.
So, how to go about getting the lost ones back on track:
Communication is the Key, You should be keeping in touch with all your clients at all times, it can substitute for a lot of hard work in the future. It is human tendency to choose the latter between Effort and Ease, so we connect with the clients who give us regular business and give up on others. We need to put in consistent efforts to get fruitful results, we need to connect with our inactive clients too, you can keep them in the loop through WhatsApp, Sms' or e mails. You can invite them for investor meets, for client conference calls, etc., irrespective of the fact they are your “inactive clients”. Never let him feel they are not important, because when they are in constant touch, they can sense the honour you bestow upon them even though they are not investing, so even if they are not investing in the near future, they will, a little far into the future. Constant connect can help you identify many hidden business opportunities.
The best way to stay in contact with your inactive clients is by keeping yourself organized. Keep a record of your inactive clients, set reminders to connect with them at fixed frequencies. Send them birthday and anniversary greetings. Because when it is about the active ones, you will tend to be in touch for business purposes, but for the inactive ones, you need to put in extra organizational efforts.
There is an anecdote about a financial advisor from Cochin, pretty successful in his business, about an inactive client of his. So, this client made an investment through the advisor and period. The advisor called the client two-three times, the client did not respond nor did he ever call back, so he assumed that the client is not interested, and he gave up. After a year, the advisor bumped into that client in a super mart, and found out that because of a mishap in his family, the client could not respond to the call, and now because of lack of contact he has a different financial advisor.
Moral of the story: Do not give up too easily. A client may be temporarily inactive, and probably only you have converted his status into permanently inactive.
Find out the reason for inactivity. There may be multiple reasons for investors to stop investing. So you need to detect the exact disease before trying to cure it.
The investor's investment's value might have declined in the initial months of his investment, and may be he booked losses too in the fear of losing more money, and this loss made his approach skeptical towards any further investments. So, you as his advisor need to wash his fear away, you must educate and explain to him the reasons for his loss. You can also create a paper trail and show him if he had believed and held on to his investment, he would have made humungous money.
Another reason could be the investor was dissatisfied from your services, and found a new advisor. So you need to work real hard and to get him back, and even if you don't get him back, you will at least get to know where you need to work so that another client doesn't leave you in the future.
Like the above, there can be many reasons for his stagnation. But once you know the logic behind his sedentary investment style, you'd be able to cater to him more effectively by targeting the root cause.
Another way to retrieve your dormant investors is through introduction of new products to them. Maybe the investor could not select an investment product from the limited set of offerings you had two years back. But now, since you have added many new products in your basket like bonds, MARS, PMS, etc., some of the new products may be suitable for the investor and may attract him to resume investing. So, you need to constantly introduce your investors to your upgraded basket of products.
Lastly, hit the right nerve. Nobody wants to pay taxes. Send an ELSS flyer or a message two-three months before the March 31 deadline. The idea of saving taxes can instill energy into the laziest of the lot.
So, the bottomline is “Laziness fuels more laziness and activity fuels more activity”.
Inactive clients are an excellent business opportunity, how soon and how well you unleash it, depends on your patience and persistence.
