If advice firms want to get a true picture of whether they are ready for the Consumer Duty requirement they should invite all clients to give feedback.
Otherwise they “are only cheating themselves”, suggests IronMarket Wealth director Rob Heath.
The company has signed up for Elevation – an enhanced client survey from VouchedFor.
Heath said Elevation data highlighted areas for IronMarket Wealth to improve the ‘Price and Value’ and ‘Consumer Understanding’ outcomes of the Consumer Duty.
He set out a clear expectation at the start of 2023, that all IronMarket clients would have the opportunity to give feedback after every meeting with an adviser.
Heath said: “Receiving regular feedback, both positive and developmental, is key in our pursuit of excellence. It’s pretty easy to maintain a 5* rating when you cherry-pick the members you ask for feedback, but we wouldn’t be exceptional with that mentality.
“It’s only by asking all our members for feedback that we can uncover our blind-spots and identify areas which need improvement. This kind of feedback is a gift, and any firm which thinks otherwise is only cheating themselves.”
By using the survey service, IronMarket is able to collect private feedback and see how its performance compares with industry benchmarks against each of the Consumer Duty outcomes.
Prior to all clients having the opportunity to give feedback, 100% of IronMarket’s clients who gave feedback said they read the firm’s correspondence either “in full” or “in part”. This fell to 90.91% during Q1 once all clients were asked for feedback.
Additionally, clients who showed an understanding of fees also fell from 86% to 60%.
What would your clients say about you?
The firm acknowledged two of the data points moved in the “wrong direction” once more clients gave feedback.
But this highlighted an opportunity to make necessary changes to improve customer experience and reduce the potential for risk within the business.
Heath added: “If we got feedback from a client – for example telling us that they don’t understand how their fees are paid – our adviser would contact them immediately, understand what areas weren’t clear and ask the member to articulate the information back to them. Our mentors logged this interaction on our CRM to evidence they’d had the conversation, and that our member’s understanding had been clarified and verified in this area, supporting Consumer Duty expectations.
“We were then able to enhance our process to be proactive, so we don’t need to remediate. Many of our clients have been with us for a number of years – they don’t regularly consider how they pay their fees. We’ve built it into performance reviews that our advisers should check client understanding in their meetings – even annual meetings with long-standing clients – and have the member replay to them key areas such as fees and risk parameters.”
Since IronMarket has identified the development opportunity and implemented these new processes, clients who showed an understanding of fees has gone from 60% to 91.43%.
Due to this approach to member feedback IronMarket is confident in meeting the Consumer Duty requirements.
Heath said: “We welcomed the Consumer Duty regulations when they were published, and we’re comfortable that we’re already meeting requirements. For us, putting members at the heart of our business is ultimately what we do and what we believe.”
