In 25 years of gathering client feedback for institutional investment managers, Eager, Davis & Holmes has gained valuable insights about client satisfaction, asset retention and cross sales. Some likely apply to your firm:

• Not surprisingly, clients’ overall satisfaction with their investment manager is highly correlated to satisfaction with investment performance
• But, many service-related factors including thought leadership, understanding clients’ needs, and communication of investment strategy also significantly influence overall satisfaction
• Normally, a significant minority of clients can’t explain the investment process of the products in which they invest. Clients who can explain the investment process, as a group, are ALWAYS more satisfied overall with their manager
• Managers get good marks for being responsive. But, they frequently receive low satisfaction ratings for “being pro-active.” “They need to pick up the phone and call us more often” is a typical request
• Managers can’t have a rigid one-size-fits-all client service model. Clients’ preferences for the way they receive information, how quickly they need it, how often they want to meet, etc., vary greatly from client-to-client. Managers need to know and respond to each client’s preferences if possible
• Many clients are interested in learning more about products their managers offer that they don’t use

To improve our understanding of industry client survey practices, Eager, Davis & Holmes recently polled 40 investment managers on that subject. Here are some key findings:

• Half of the 40 managers polled have conducted a client survey within the past four years
• Of those who conducted a survey, 65% used an outside third party
• Managers who used an outside third party gave their survey higher usefulness ratings in almost every area
• 65% said surveying was “Highly Useful” in learning each client’s servicing preferences
• Finally, of those using a third party, 36% said their survey was “Highly Useful” in expanding “share of wallet” compared to 0% of firms who conducted their own survey

Many firms gain feedback from other constituencies as follows:

• 41% get input from consultants
• 31% routinely conduct lost client interviews
• 28% routinely conduct “post finals” interviews

Thinking of doing your own client survey? Consider this:

• Relationship Manager and Senior Management feedback is difficult to analyze and measure for progress over time
• There is no guarantee it gets done (or done in a timely manner)
• Since clients can’t be offered anonymity, many will not participate

Using a third party offers many advantages:

• Surveys and interview guides are developed (with your input) by experienced marketing research professionals
• Interviews are conducted by trained interviewers
• Some third parties, like Eager, Davis & Holmes, understand the investment management industry and the nature of client servicing in this business
• The survey will be objective. The process does not begin with the desire to make your staff look good or have any other biases
• In the end, considering compensation rates at investment management firms, it will likely be cheaper to outsource a client survey process than do it internally

How can you benefit from an Eager, Davis & Holmes client survey?

• Learn which servicing enhancements clients want to see from your firm
• Get an assessment of how your firm is satisfying clients’ needs in a variety of specific areas (e.g. risk management)
• Determine those same perspectives on a client-by-client basis
• Identify clients “at risk” and those that may become “at risk” if specific issues are not addressed properly
• Find out which clients are interested in learning more about capabilities you have they are not using