Ameritrade Account Access
About UsServicesNewsFAQsUseful InfoClient Corner
Tagline
Article Library

Client Survey Results: You Like Us!

by BWFA / JANUARY 2000 / BWFA News

Background
This past summer we undertook a survey to research BWFA clients' attitudes about what we do. For those of you who participated, thank you. We think you are wonderful, too. All of us at BWFA love what we do and enjoy making a difference in your lives. In many cases, we consider you to be as close as family. You've told us that you think of us the same way.

In this survey, we wanted to find out:

  •  what made you happy
  •  how you decided to come to BWFA, and
  •  what you value most about our services

For our survey, Diggs! Marketing and Communications, Inc. interviewed more than 25% of our clients. Diggs identified three groups among you. We will call them

  1. Pre-Retirees/Retirees,
  2. Young Families,
  3. Single Retired People

Client History
About 65% of those interviewed had been with BWFA for 3 years (35% for more than 5 years). Only 11% were new BWFA clients, with us one year or less.

How clients find us
References - Nearly half (46%) had found BWFA through a referral:

  •  via a friend (27%)
  •  via a professional advisor (19%)
Seminars - Five clients joined us after attending one of our financial planning seminars.

Web - Three clients came to us from visiting our website

Ads - Two clients found us in the Yellow Pages and one from the radio

Why clients chose BWFA
Most significant, and most satisfying to us was the fact that our clients have decided to do business with BWFA mainly because people "felt comfortable" with and "trusted" us.

  •  "Comfort and trust" accounted for 36% of the responses
    • about 18% selecting us because they trusted the original referral source and
    • 9% citing the "personalities" of our advisors

  •  Other reasons clients selected us:
  •  Surprisingly, however, technical expertise was not offered as the primary reason for choosing BWFA.

What clients like most about BWFA
We are pleased to note that people skills were at the top of the list of things you as clients value. When asked what you "really liked" about BWFA, you responded with these key words:

  •   "friendly,"
  •   "professional competence,"
  •   "trust,"
  •   "people skills,"
  •   "service,"
  •   "results," and
  •   "responsive"

How clients feel financially
When asked about the most significant way BWFA has improved your financial situation, nearly twice as many persons answered "investment results" as compared to the next highest response:

  •  "investment results"
  •  "helping me get my finances organized"
  •  "solved problems"
  •  "saved me money"

How clients rate our services
When asked about the quality of the services that BWFA provides, on a scale of 10 possible points,

    You rated us 8.7 !
Most important quality in BWFA advisors:
  •  advisor's investment knowledge (more than 2-to-1)
  •  professional certification
  •  years of experience
Most important service:
  •  "Retirement" planning as the most important (41%).

  • "Tax" service was ranked second

    (According to your responses, the "how" of planning is more important than the "why" or "what.")

What clients want from BWFA
Of particular interest to all of us here at BWFA is that our clients want to learn from us.

Most important interpersonal quality:

  •  "Educate me" was rated the most important (29%)
  •  "Ability to listen to my goals" (23%)
  •   "Cares about me" (23%).

What is crucial for clients

  •  "Highly personalized service" is the most crucial quality (61%)
  •  "Easy access - there when I call them" (21%)
  •  "Reasonable fees" (18%)

All in all, we think our "grades" were great.
What you appear to like best are:

  •  our newsletter,
  •  ongoing investment results,
  •  our integrity and customer orientation,
  •  the way we have personalized our services,
  •  the friendships you enjoy with our advisors and our hardworking staff.

We'd like to invite all of you who were not able to participate to answer these confidential questions and send in your responses, too.

Call the office and ask for the Market Research Survey or e-mail your interest to us at advisors@bwfa.com with the word "Survey" in the subject line.

Thank you again for the high regard in which you hold us.



Get Started Now