Exceptional Client Service
Rothschild & Co Wealth Management
28 September 2021
Watch Helen Watson, CEO Wealth Management UK, speaking about our approach to client service.
We have two objectives for our clients: to preserve and grow their wealth in real terms; and to deliver exceptional client service.
Historically, our team has delivered on the first objective and going forward we believe we have the right philosophy, team and approach to continue to meet and exceed our clients’ financial goals in the long-term. While in the shorter-term markets are beyond our control, we can control the service we deliver for our clients. We are committed to delivering a level of service which stands out, relative to both peers and the other providers our clients work with.
To us, great service isn’t just about being responsive or doing what clients expect, it’s going above and beyond. It’s about being pro-active, developing a genuine personal connection with clients, seeing things from their perspective, being innovative and trying to surprise them positively.
How we embed a culture of service
To truly stand out, responsibility for exceptional client service isn’t just that of our client advisers, but of all colleagues. We have very consciously sought to embed a culture of exceptional client service throughout our business.
Some ways in which ensure this are:
- Everyone is accountable. We have added exceptional client service objectives to each person’s annual performance review, specific to their role.
- Everyone is empowered. We want to ensure that every employee is empowered at their respective stage of the client lifecycle to deliver the best possible experience. For instance, our colleagues who handle to online reporting have been known to visit clients’ homes to help set their tech up.
- Culturally infused into our business. In 2019 we established the Exceptional Client Service Committee which is a working group of staff from all functions and levels of the business to raise improvements to our service and develop new solutions together.
To support this, an internal ‘Michelin Award’ recognises the individuals who have delivered exceptional client service, regardless of their role. Our ‘adopt-a-client’ initiative means every staff member is placed into a working group to learn about the client journey and contribute with improvements.
On a day-to-day basis, we have embedded a focus on quality and client experience into everything we do, lead by three questions; Would the client be impressed by this? Have I made this better for the client? Is this what “exceptional” looks like?
Biannual Client Satisfaction Survey
Quite simply, we are able to deliver an exceptional service to our clients because we know them. We deliberately have a small number of clients per adviser and operate a close, team-based approach so that clients always know who they are speaking with, and vice versa. Our teams are very experienced and collaborative, constantly sharing good ideas and learning points.
While these personal relationships between clients and their advisers are the foundation of our service, we also conduct a bi-annual client survey, seeking feedback on what we do well and how we improve.
Our latest survey, conducted in Q4 2019 by Savanta showed that:
- Our client retention rate is exceptionally high at 97%
- More than three-quarters of additional new assets come from existing clients
- Two-thirds of clients have recommended us to friends and family
We also lead the industry in client satisfaction:
“Clients routinely report how Rothschild & Co Wealth Management doesn’t just provide a highly satisfactory service, but one that goes above and beyond their expectations, and that of the service received by competitors.”
Savanta, December 2019
As much as we are proud of our teams and the outstanding survey results we received in 2019, we are never complacent. We are conducting our survey again in November 2021 with a focus on our service during the COVID-19 pandemic.