“Value what you have, but seek for more”

Socrates 4BC

Ann Monks and Barbara Hamilton, Smith & Williamson

Client careClient care3pm-3.30pm, 18 October 20073pm-3.30pm, 18 October 2007

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

About usAnn Monks• Marketing Director for the

Smith & Williamson Group• 17 years’ experience in professional

services marketing• Chartered Institute of Marketing,

Associate in Promotional Practice • Former chair of Professional Marketing

Forum in London• Alumna of KPMG• Responsible for overall marketing

strategy • Member of Nexia International’s

European Marketing Committee

Barbara Hamilton• Associate Director within Marketing

and head of Business Development for the Smith & Williamson Group

• Chartered Marketer, Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing, BA (Hons) in Retail Marketing

• Chair of Professional Marketing Forum in London

• Alumna of Herbert Smith, Allen & Overy, PwC, Sun Microsystems

• Responsible for business and client development programmes at Smith & Williamson

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

Today we will cover

• What client care means

• Why we need it

• What our clients expect from us

• Client care at Nexia International

• What we’re doing at Smith & Williamson

Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

What is client care?

Client care is the way we deliver our services, it is our approach. We have to remember that our clients are people not businesses.

Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

What do our clients expect from us?• To meet their expectations• Provide accurate and well informed advice• To be interested in them• Understand their issues• Be flexible and treat each client separately• Pass on our knowledge• To charge a fair price

Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

Why we need client care • Our clients have a choice and will work with more than one

professional adviser• To protect our future revenues and avoid complacency• Deliver consistency across our business and manage our

reputation• We operate in an increasingly competitive market• We are growing as a business and new people are joining us• Everyone needs to know what quality we are trying to achieve

Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

What good client care looks like• The client knows who is looking after them• There are clean lines of communication• Information is shared appropriately• Everyone knows what is expected of them• Work runs smoothly, on budget and on time• The client feels happy to pay the fee

Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

What bad client care looks like• The team changes constantly• The client is asked the same questions twice• The director/partner is not available• Simple mistakes keep being made• The fee is not the same as the quote• The director doesn’t seem that interested• Things seem a bit rushed

Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

Good client care at Nexia International• As much as possible the service is

seamlessly delivered• Expectations are set early and both

sides know what they have to do• Reporting is coordinated so what

the client sees is consistent across borders as much as it can be

• Information is shared amongst the different teams

• Cultural differences are understood and outputs adapted

• The focus is on what the client wants and what they expect

Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

What gets in the way of good client care• Language and cultural issues• Relative experience and maturity

of markets• Project management is not owned

centrally so deadlines are missed• Different perspectives on what is

good quality• Different resources and experience• The client’s status differs across

markets• Nexia is not the same as one firm

but the client treats it as if it is

Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

At• New project across Tax & Business Services to

launch client care standards across the business• Follows a review of our lead director and key

client programme and some client feedback• Recognition of a need to embed what we do well

and change behaviours where service can improve

Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

Our dilemma• Who a client is varies enormously across the business• The nature of the relationship varies

– Same client your whole career– Never the same client twice

• The nature of the work varies– Primary and secondary adviser roles– Transactional, compliance and advisory work– Project versus cyclical assignments

Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

What we have done

• Put together a steering group to make sure that what we do is relevant across the business

• Created objectives and some simple standards for client care

Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

The objectives for client care at Smith & Williamson

Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

We want to be recognised as:

ResponsiveEfficientProfessional

Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

Professionalism• Invest in our technical

expertise• Innovative services• Recognised by clients for

our reliability• Appropriately qualified

staff on each job• Work well with other

advisers

Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

Efficiency• Good project management• Every job is appropriately

planned and scoped• Seamless delivery of

multi-department services• No wasted resources• Minimal disruption• Profitable assignments

Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

Responsiveness• Demonstrate an interest in

clients

• Change our behaviour to fit clients needs

• Obtain feedback on our performance

• Adapt to and initiate change

Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

And finally …• Client care is not a separate process but a part of

what we do every day• Client care relates to everyone in a firm not just

fee earning members of staff• Barriers to change are lifting so it is more

important than ever to be good at service• Start with what you are already good at• Involve clients it is them that you have to please

Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference

18 October 2007

Q&A

Ann Monks and Barbara Hamilton, Smith & Williamson,

Client careClient care3pm-3.30pm, 18 October 20073pm-3.30pm, 18 October 2007