Opportunity awaits for investment and retirement services programs
By Gary A. Weuve, CLU, ChFC, RFC, CPRC, CFP
Sponsored by CUNA Mutual Group
Does it feel to you as if no one trusts anyone any longer? Building trusting relationships with prospective and even existing members is not easy and it takes time. If your credit union offers investment or retirement services, here are a few tips to promote the process.
Help your advisors get outside the office with their best clients. The current trend in client events is smaller and more intimate, which makes it easier to connect. A deep personal relationship will lead to a trusting relationship. Providing small quarterly updates for clients in the form of a coffee clutch at a local breakfast place with a meeting room can accomplish the task as well.
Position your advisors as more than an investment advisor. It is going to be difficult to build trusting relationships if all your advisors are doing for their clients is building investment portfolios. Ask your advisors to spend more time understanding the concerns, desires and goals of their clients. Be sure to brand your program, and get the word out to your membership.
Communicate frequently. Touching the program’s best clients often is important. These clients want to know you are paying attention, on watch and protecting their important assets. The communication program you help your advisors create will include face-to-face educational and social events, outbound phone calls, e-newsletters and birthday/anniversary/holiday cards.
Put the client first. Before your advisors make any recommendations, make sure they understand the wants and needs of the member. Beyond the questions of risk tolerance and how much income is needed in retirement, the advisor should understand each client's lifestyle. Today your investment and retirement services program is in the best position possible. Every day for the next 19 years 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65. Trust will play a big factor in who becomes the advisor of choice as boomers seek out assistance with their retirement nest egg. Enjoy the journey!
Gary Weuve is vice president of The Center for Advisor Excellence™ with CUES Supplier member CUNA Brokerage Services, Inc., Madison, Wis., and a featured speaker at the 5th annual Discovery Conference. Read more about offering investment services in “Positive Percentages a Plus” from Credit Union Management magazine. Read past posts by CUNA Mutual, “401(k) Plans as ‘Personal’ Retirement Plans” and “Challenging Channel Assumptions.”
