Everyone who runs a business wants to be sure that their clients feel valued and appreciated. This is a basic core strategy for successful interactions with your clients over the long term. Nowhere is this more important than in the Financial Advisory world, where creating a bond of trust with your clients is essential to a successful relationship.

Clients who trust and feel connected to their financial advisor are going to be more likely to work well with them over the long term. People are not willing to share personal information or financial information where there is no trust, and you will need that trust to take good care of your clients at all stages of their lives.

If you have been trying to think of ways to increase the Appreciation that you are showing to your clients, you might be feeling a bit stumped about how to reach out to them without it feeling like you are trying to sell them something. Thankfully, there are some tried and true methods that will make it easy and enjoyable for you to make your clients feel like they are valued and appreciated.

1. Gratitude Marketing

One of the best ways to market your financial advisory business and increase client appreciation and trust is to use gratitude. This simple strategy removes the usual marketing push at people and instead guides your clients into a deeper relationship where they feel valued and cared for. This style of relationship building feels like making friends, rather than seeking customers.

As an example, every business sends out Christmas cards to their clients. Many people get the Christmas card, glance at it, and throw it into the garbage. Using a gratitude marketing plan, you would send out this Christmas card, but you would use it as a means to highlight the donation that you are making to a charity and to invite your clients to share in your Christmas spirit.

2. Handwritten Notes

While it might feel a bit dated to you, a handwritten note that is personalized to the recipient still makes clients feel valued and appreciated. Just taking the time to write an actual note indicates that you have thought about them personally and taken time out of your busy day to write them a personalized note.

Even a thank-you note goes a long way toward securing client appreciation and you will find that you get a much better response when you communicate gratitude in this way to your clients. This is especially true of people who are in their thirties or older because they remember when this used to be a much more common way of communicating.

3.  Take Notice of Clients Who Always go the Extra Mile

No one enjoys making a big effort to be thoughtful and feeling ignored, and your clients are no different. Clients who are always flexible, who are willing to make things work when your day is busy, or who are understanding about the restrictions of your time are the kind of clients that you want to foster the deepest relationships with.

This kind of client will always appreciate receiving a thank you from you in recognition of their patience and understanding or their flexibility. This can take the form of a handwritten note, but a more effective way of addressing this kind of gratitude is to call the client and let them know that you appreciated their understanding or patience. This strategy is even effective if you are trying to make sure that a client is aware of your appreciation for their investment in you.

4. Deliver Free Services to Clients Going Through Hard Times

Our concept of friendship and the bonds we share as a society have changed greatly over time. In a world full of email communication and isolation, taking the time to notice when your clients are going through a rough time can make a huge impact on their trust and their appreciation of you. This action indicates that you care about them on a personal level and that you are empathetic to their situation.

This kind of appreciation could be offering a free consultation to them, or stepping in to help them with tasks that they are struggling with on their own. A good example would be offering to take a look at their finances and help them to find a possible solution to a lost job or a sudden change in financial situation. Being able to demonstrate that you are willing to offer assistance without expecting anything in return builds trust.

5. Give Thoughtful Gifts

This one is a bit trickier to handle the right way, and many businesses get it wrong. If you get it right, it can be a great way to show appreciation for your clients that they won’t forget anytime soon! The key to giving actually thoughtful gifts is to think about something that you would like to receive from a friend.

Imagine a scenario where you know a client of yours is having a really bad day. Maybe they told you on the phone that they can’t talk right now because they are dealing with something tough at their job. Taking them a cup of coffee and a donut or a pastry and dropping it off is a great way to give a truly thoughtful gift. Your client will see that you took the time to bring them a thoughtful pick-me-up and that you didn’t ask for anything in return.

Strive to Build Real Relationships

The key to creating real appreciation in your clients and forming lasting bonds of trust is to make sure that you think of them as people, not as a number. If you practice real gratitude and utilize gratitude marketing strategies each time you reach out to clients, you will foster strong and lasting connections with them. Treating your clients like members of your family or friends whom you enjoy interacting with will prove to them that you care about them and appreciate them deeply.

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