So after my nightmare experience with the big phone company and their horrid web site and the order confirmation that thanked me for buying something I had not bought, the right product (an air card) did arrive. And it actually worked just fine. Had I been too quick to judge? Was I too harsh about the lack of user friendliness in the “order to fulfillment” process chain? Did I need to offer an apology? After all, I did get the right items.
Well, two days ago, I received an e-mail that thanked me for my order and said that a text message would be sent to my new phone with my temporary password so that I could view my account usage online. Now as far as I know, there is no way my air card can receive a text, nor is there any way I can view that message since, well, it’s an air card. It is impossible for me to believe that the incompetence can compound at this rate. But it seems to in spite of what I think.
By the way, my bank finally did call back. Three different people called back, none of which knew that someone else had fixed the problem. No wonder it took them so long to get back to me. They were all making unnecessary calls to customers who no longer had problems.
Customer contact is EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING.
July 15th, 2008
GenSpring Family Offices just released its most recent study, entitled Men & Wealth. You can read all of the pertinent data by downloading the study, of course, but there are some things I find particularly interesting and puzzling.
First, most of the men fit the InKnowVision client demographic perfectly: over $10 million of net worth, over age 50, working, self-made, married, etc. What is puzzling to me is that the sample here, of over a hundred individuals, provides responses that are very different from what we experience.
For example, most (70%) state that they have clear goals for their wealth; most (56%) state that they are worried how their children will handle wealth; most feel it is important to give money (83%) or time (70%) to philanthropy. These results are astonishingly different than our own anecdotal evidence. Our experience at InKnowVision is that goals are often not well defined, parents don’t talk about their children in terms of “managing wealth”, and involvement or discussion involving philanthropy is minimal.
This raises some questions for me. Do respondents alter their answers to “say the right thing” in surveys? Or, do the people at GenSpring (and others like them) know how to ask better questions? Are “our” advisors asking the right questions or avoiding the tough ones and just collecting “facts”?
It’s both interesting and frustrating to me that this disparity exists. This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed this phenomenon. And I don’t know what to do about it. Our job would be so much easier if we could get those “clearly defined goals” and understand where the concerns are about the children and know what the philanthropic intent and goals and passions are. How do we get those answers? How do you ask those questions?
Ideas?
July 8th, 2008
So, after my harrowing experience ordering from my phone company, they managed to continue amazing me with their ineptitude. I received an e-mail confirmation thanking me for my order. For THE WRONG PRODUCT.
It’s beyond my imagination that a company with a revenue and budget that ranks it among the largest in the world can screw things up this badly. This part of the process should be relatively easy. Apparently not.
I have every hope that I will actually receive the right items. I don’t know why I do. Perhaps I’m just an optimist.
Question, do you carefully check what is communicated to your clients either by some automated process or directly? I spend a fair amount of time on the InKnowVision site making sure that when you click something what’s supposed to be there is actually there. It’s good practice. Try it on your own. Just like calling your office and seeing how the phone is answered. It’s your face.
June 30th, 2008
I read a great blog the other day by Seth Godin about his frustration in dealing with a big, name brand phone company and how poor and frustrating their customer service interface was. Seth is a master of making the complicated simple and his blog pointed out how this same company spent millions of dollars marketing to get customers and yet was totally inept at providing service that would keep those hard earned customers. We all know it costs more to get a new customer than to keep one.
Yesterday, I had two similar experiences, one with the “other” big phone company, whose web site was so counter intuitive that I ended up dialing “611” and had to have an employee help me order online. Even she couldn’t figure out:
• How to find what I wanted
• How to get the price I’d seen online the day before
• How to actually get the order placed with the features I wanted and to remove the features I didn’t want
This company must spend millions on its web presence and its system was horrible. Getting to the right person on my 611 call took at least five different steps and the first time I tried it, I ended up back where I started at the “main menu.”
Later, I couldn’t log into my online banking account. The system wouldn’t recognize my username. No one could explain why. They’re supposed to call back. I’m still waiting. Meanwhile, I can’t pay my bills. Sorry.
Today, the face our buying public or our potential buying public (clients and prospective clients to us financial and legal professionals) often sees first is either our phone system or our website. What they should see is a very friendly face. Phone systems should never lead the very people you’ve been cultivating into a black hole they can never get out of. Somewhere, some place there had better be the voice of a real, live human being as an option. Web sites should be intuitive, informative. Simple. Big companies have millions to spend. They may be able to have customers come and go in the revolving door, big numbers game they play.
We can’t afford it. Us little guys have to be better. Smarter. More accessible.
June 27th, 2008
No, No I don’t mean cashing it in and calling it quits, though at times we all feel like it. I mean giving is up. At least according to Giving USA. 2007 was a record year for kindhearted Americans to support their favorite causes. We crossed over the $300 billion mark for the first time ever and, even after inflation adjustment, this represents about a 1% increase over last year. Of course, that’s somewhat because last year’s number has been readjusted downward.
Most giving (75%) still comes from individuals. Religious organizations (about 33%) get the most. Foreign and disaster relief organizations are among the fastest growing since we Americans seem to respond to tragedy rapidly and with open hearts and wallets. It’s also where celebrities pull our attention most.
What’s not accounted for well is that there are more and more charities to give to. We’re up over 1 million with another 400 thousand churches. And there are billions of dollars being poured into donor advised funds at community foundations and places like Fidelity and Vanguard and very little of those funds being currently distributed to actual operating charities. That means (at least to me) that charities are pinched. Their budgets are tight, they’re in greater competition for dollars and there are not any more real dollars coming their way.
This is a tough problem now and will continue to get tougher. I expect 2008 to be a down year for contributions. The current stock market and economic downturn has everyone holding on a little tighter. Coupled with a drop in will bequests and uncertain estate taxation and I suspect we’ll see some real belt tightening and program cutting sooner rather than later.
We who advise the families of wealth, those who can really make a difference, may want to consider really delving more deeply with our clients and provoking to think about what their world will be like when many of the charitable organizations begin to disappear or cut programs because of lack of funding. Where, you may ask, does their passion for society and its future lie? Where is their heart for “philia”? It could be an interesting discussion. Certainly it’s not one anyone else is having with them.
June 24th, 2008
That’s what we do. We help you help your clients make intelligent decisions. Should they do an FLP sale to a GDOT? Don’t know. Let’s analyze it. See how the numbers look. Test it. Decide which assets to use. Then we’ll have a better idea. They’ll have CONTEXT. They’ll be able to compare it with the way things are now. Get comfortable. Or not.
Should my client take $2 million of his liquidity and buy an annuity? I don’t know. Didn’t he just spend $2 million on another illiquid asset? Shouldn’t we check his cash flows, maybe look at it both ways? Why the hurry? Why the ready, fire, aim? Slow down. Let’s look at the numbers. See if it makes sense. Help him make the best choice for him.
Hurrying a client to make a sale can be fatal to the planning process. Patience is more of a virtue in this profession than you might realize. Helping clients make intelligent decisions is really the best thing we can do. It gives them time to get comfortable. To think about their own future and their own possibilities; to act wisely, not rashly. To not regret later.
June 20th, 2008
When you first decided to Own Your Own Business (OYOB), you probably thought, “now, I’ll get to do what I always wanted, work with clients, practice law (financial planning, accounting, make widgets, whatever). This’ll be great.” Then reality happened and you find yourself having to select copiers and computer systems, rent office space, keep books, hire and supervise employees and a myriad of other tasks that have nothing to do with practicing law or financial planning or accounting or making widgets. Except they do.
So the other day when someone inadvertently pulled the plug on our phone system and some poor woman who had no idea who InKnowVision is started getting phone calls from all over the U.S. and our customers couldn’t get through to us, well we had to deal with it. And yes it was a royal pain and it took a lot of effort by a lot of people to straighten it out. And, yes, we would like to send the woman a gift even though none of this was our fault.
All businesses have unexpected, unanticipated annoying interruptions. If you are going to OYOB you had better to be ready to be something other than your professional calling. Your reaction to these kind of interruptions is probably as important as your professional skills.
June 6th, 2008
I’ve spent a lot of time so far this year traveling to various meetings and conferences where there are gatherings of small pockets of advisors, financial and legal professionals mostly, all of whom are totally dedicated and committed to improving the way they serve their clients. Advisors in Philanthropy, Legacy Wealth Coach, National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys, Sudden Money Institute and SunBridge so far. The various meetings and conferences are all good, maybe even great. Good content, great ideas, great hallway conversations. Each organization has a slightly different slant or approach but they are all delivering a similar message. We keep talking about professionals working in silos and the need to take the silos down. Well these groups are just (slightly) bigger silos.
It’s very inspiring. And very frustrating. Frustrating because these pockets of advisors are so small. Frustrating because they’re so dispersed professionally. Geographically. I’d love to find some way to get all of these professionals in the same place at the same time just to see what would happen. Any ideas?
May 28th, 2008
Why did we start The Safe Asset Plan (TSAP to us insiders), you ask? Aren’t we busy enough? Well, lots of reasons, actually. And, yes, we are busy. Really busy. But we saw a need and decided we’d try to fill it. Stay with me here, but you’ve been asking. And, frankly, as we’ve reviewed the hundreds of high net worth cases that have come across our desks we’ve taken note of the fact that not only do these families need good estate planning but they also need asset protection.
Now, I’m not just saying that. There are estimated to be 41,000 lawsuits filed every day in this country. That’s about 15,000,000 per year. A lot by any measure. That means that every one of our clients is possibly exposed. We’ve had several instances of families being brought to us where it was already too late. One, who’d been in an unfortunate car accident was sued and basically lost everything. Nothing we could do. Except not let this happen to others.
Yes, we’re capitalists and seizing what we think is a great opportunity for you and for us. But we’re also conscientious about the risks the families we’re working with face. Honestly, we can’t just shrug and say it’s someone else’s problem. This is both opportunity and responsibility.
May 19th, 2008
We are excited to announce our new company, The Safe Asset Plan™. After years of requests, you asked for it, and we listened. We created The Safe Asset Plan™ because we saw a growing need in a complex area; the need to serve wealthy families in protecting their wealth.
We are kicking off our good news with a one day program prior to the July Institute in Chicago. Check out our new website here, or click here for information on how to attend. If you have any questions about our new venture or the program, please email us, or call Lydia Monchak at (888) 526-2958.
May 8th, 2008
InKnowVision member I. Mark Cohen (an attorney and financial planner) from McLean, VA just finished his work on BNA portfolio 864 on the Uniform Trust Code. For those of you who don’t know, the BNA portfolios constitute a major and well repected resource for planners in all areas of taxation. Hats off to Mark for this significant accomplishment.
Scott Hamilton
May 7th, 2008
If you think about it, the only way any of us can ever get paid is by adding value to something for someone. The more value we add, the more we might expect to get paid.
For instance, whole grain, organic, artisan bread is more expensive than store bought, off the shelf, white bread. Why? Because we believe that someone added value. By adding better ingredients and making something healthier for us and better tasting, we perceive it as more valuable and are willing to pay more.
If you’re an estate planning attorney and your client is comparing your price for estate planning to that of the lawyer down the street, you’re not being perceived as adding enough value to differentiate yourself from the other guy. How do you do that? Prettier binders? Doubtful. What you really need are better questions. Deeper relationships. More care and concern. Better process. Something that your client understands and interprets more readily. Clarity.
Same holds true for the financial advisor community. Can you compete with “the guys who will do the planning for free?” You must to survive.
Think about all of the places you add value. Think about how you can add more.
Randy Fox
April 30th, 2008
I’m a Starbucks person, I admit it. In fact, I got so addicted to having a latte in the morning that I bought my own automatic espresso machine (from Starbucks, of course). I did the math, and it was better than break even in less than a year. Even after ingredient costs. A great deal for me and too bad for Starbucks. They wouldn’t see my smilin’ face everyday with a chance to up sell me on some high calorie breakfast pastry to go with my $4.00 daily habit. This worked great for about a year until the machine broke. Calls to customer service ultimately informed me that the machine couldn’t be repaired and all they could offer was a “new” machine at the best sale price they offered.
This hardly seemed like a fair proposition or even a good offer. Shouldn’t an expensive machine last more than one year? Shouldn’t there be some opportunity to have it repaired or replaced? Apparently not. Nonetheless, being the loyal and naïve addict that I was, I though I’d give it another try. After all, I was at about break even for my efforts. I was only out a little aggravation. And I’m a glutton for punishment. This time the replacement model was by De’Longhi a relatively well known Italian appliance maker. Maybe this would turn out better.
Lo and behold, the new machine started to sputter after just about one year of usage. Planned obsolescence? Shoddy quality control? Bad design? Who knows? This time, however, the rest of the experience was different. Customer service was different. They shipped me a box to return the unit in, told me it would be two weeks before I heard anything and that someone would be in touch. Within a week after returning the unit, someone called, only with a tracking number, and that same day a brand new unit arrived. Brand new. No charge. As it should have.
Something fundamentally changed in the Starbucks process chain. They must have realized that their policy was costing them business and it was worth eating a few dollars to keep good customers (those of us that make big ticket purchases at their stores) happy. More than happy.
Examine your service policies. You might be “right” about your decisions. And making people very unhappy at the same time. Is it worth it?
April 23rd, 2008
It seems I’ve been traveling a lot in and out of the country and in and out of meetings and conferences, thus I haven’t been writing a lot. However, I have been gathering much to write about. So, there should be a fair amount of new material flying for the next little while.
Let’s start with a subject near and dear to my heart, a customer service experience (we professionals call them clients, not customers but as far as I can tell, they’re the same person no matter what you call them).
I was in Macy’s with the hopes of buying some new sheets. It was around 5:30 P. M. not exactly prime retail shopping hour. Bedding is on the lower level at my local Macy’s and I rode the escalator down and started wandering through the department, identifying possible selections. I had a few questions that I needed to ask before I made a purchase (I wasn’t a shopper, I was a buyer) so I began to look for a salesperson. I spent fifteen or twenty minutes looking. Really. I couldn’t have made a purchase if I tried. In fact, I did try. I don’t know where everyone was but they weren’t on the lower level. No cash registers were attended. It was ghost town like spooky. In fact, Macy’s doesn’t seem to have salespeople. They have check out clerks. Sometimes. Like Target.
If you want to have a high style practice (Macy’s intent), then you absolutely must provide a level of service that exceeds the commodity competition (Target). If you fall short in any way, your customer/client will do what I did. They’ll go to Target, get what they want quickly and easily and you won’t ever know what happened.
Randy Fox
April 18th, 2008
In this case, decedent transferred patents, patent licensing interests, and securities to an LLC, and then died unexpectedly immediately after the transfers. The court found that she had properly attended to her facts and documentation, all faithfully as set forth in the Tax Court’s 99 page opinion. The court further found that significant non-tax purposes supported the creation of the entity; for example, the desire to jointly manage assets to foster family cohesiveness, the maintenance of the assets in a single pool to take advantage of lower fees and greater investment opportunities, to equally provide for her children and eventually her grandchildren. Estate of Mirowski, TC Memo. 2008-74, March 26, 2008.
Thought this might be of interest for some of you.
Randall Borkus
April 8th, 2008
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