Another year has flown by somewhere and we wanted to check that all of our 207 clients are still really happy and satisfied with our service.
When Lisa and I started Thomas and Thomas 20 years ago, we wanted to stand out as truly exceptional when it came to the service that we would provide. It wasn’t too difficult at the beginning with just 31 clients – but as our business grew – we knew we had to up our game.
Today, our small team follow processes that we have developed over many years to ensure no client gets ‘left behind’ – but ultimately – we still have a desire to make sure that everyone’s individuality is still paramount. For us it is personal.
We were delighted with the response ratio this year which was back to record highs with 61% of our clients completing the survey. Thank you so much to everyone who took those few minutes to let us know what they thought.
This year we reduced the questions, asking eight key things we wanted to know a bit more about. There were then set answer boxes for our clients to select – ranging from ‘Perfect/ Excellent’ to ‘Good’ to ‘Acceptable’ to ‘Poor’.
We offered a comments box for each question and we received no fewer than 115 comments over the survey! Thank you so much for these as they really help us to better understand what is working well and where we could perhaps improve something.
We started by asking generally how you found our service this year. Some 96.61% of clients selected ‘Excellent’ with the rest selecting ‘Good’.
Next, we asked if your Annual Review satisfies everything you need to know. Once again, 100% of clients graded this as ‘Excellent or Good’
We also asked my personal favourite – ‘How good are we at getting back to you?’. We scored our highest ever 98.31% ‘Excellent’ with the remainder in ‘Good’. I was gutted that we didn’t quite get 100% ‘Excellent’ – but perhaps next year will be the year!
We then asked a really valuable question – ‘How do you feel about investing NEW money into the markets right now?’ Our clients are a wise old bunch and so we love to know what they are thinking. Interestingly, the scores increased towards ‘Very Confident’ this year – despite all that is going on in the world. Although there were many comments and concerns about the state of the world. It was lovely to see the amount of comments stating how clients understood this is a long term journey and that they were calm because of their guidance from Thomas and Thomas throughout that journey.
We asked clients about our Podcast, eMeetings, You Tube Videos and Written Articles. It would seem that the written articles are still the most popular – although nearly as many clients now watch or listen to the videos or podcast. The clear message here was that we need to keep offering you the choice and making information content in multiple ways to suit different people’s preferences. No problem at all.
Finally, we asked why you like dealing with us. This question was new and the answer really took me back. Over half the respondents actually felt that qualifications, awards and communication are obviously important – but not as important as just having access to us. It seems that the secret to our success over the years has been our accessibility – but don’t tell anyone!
The comments this year were so heartening. The one that stuck with me most was this: ‘Most of my former colleagues who have retired see their financial advisor at the start of their retirement in order to set things up. Other than annual statements, that’s about it. Whereas Thomas and Thomas provide continuous updates/ info/ reviews, all in all a lot more comprehensive service’.
We gained a lot of encouragement but also some valuable insights into the working relationship we have with our clients through this year’s survey. Once again, thank you so much for being with us on the journey and here’s to hitting that elusive 100% ‘excellent’ next year!
Darren
Ps – we have also completed a full response document if you want to know more about the survey findings.
