To follow on my last article, “Good Old-Fashioned Service,” I wanted to tell you about how we are working to improve customer service with a new client satisfaction survey, and also to introduce you to another member of our team, Maureen Carrion.
We plan to survey by e-mail our entire client base this summer and ask you to score a single question on a 1-to-10 scale: “Would you refer us to a friend or relative?” Although we appreciate referrals, we’re not asking for one in this survey. Instead, we want to have a single measure that best sums up how well we are doing.
Firms with a special focus on client satisfaction, including General Electric, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and American Express, have developed and used this one-question survey in their customer satisfaction and retention efforts. We’ll use the results to identify areas where we can improve.
Why should you bother with one more survey? First of all, our survey will be short—really short. Second, our survey will be anonymous, although you can ask us to follow up with you. Third, and most importantly, for us to raise our level of service for you, we need your feedback.
BWFA has kept over 99 percent of our investment account assets in 2007 and 100 percent in 2008 thus far. We have 250 clients who lend us their trust and confidence every day. This is something that we never take for granted.
You can always contact Saxon Birdsong, president of BWFA, or me with any feedback about your experience with BWFA.
Professional Profile: Maureen Carrion
In the last issue, we highlighted Rachel Roffman, our Investment Operations Manager. Now, I would like to introduce you to another important member of our team, Maureen Carrion, an associate in our Financial Planning Department.
If you’ve had a financial plan completed at BWFA in the last few years, chances are Maureen has helped in the process. She gathers financial information, organizes data, researches planning issues, and helps to write your financial plan under the guidance of Mark Stinson.
“It makes me feel good when I can help clients solve problems,” Maureen told me. “One task I do is review 401(k) plan statements to see if a client is under- or over-contributing. Many clients don’t know that if they contribute too much early in the year, they can miss out on free matching money from their employer.”
This might seem a departure for someone with a degree in Microbiology and Information Systems Management, but Maureen has spent her career managing projects (and meeting tough deadlines and dealing with technical information in the process). Just prior to coming to BWFA in 2005, she helped an experienced group of advisors set up their first office. For seven years, she managed projects at NASD (the securities industry self-regulatory organization, now called FINRA).
While Maureen came to us with a background in financial services, BWFA is her first opportunity to work directly with clients, instead of with the advisors who serve them—and she likes it. “It’s interesting to see how clients’ personal situations can be so different, yet they can still have similar financial concerns,” she says.
Maureen is working toward obtaining Certified Financial Planner® (CFP) certification. For the last year, she has been intensively studying and just recently passed the CFP exam. “I studied hard, learned a lot, and am utilizing my new knowledge in my job,” she says.
Reflecting on her professional growth, Maureen now takes on a more visible role, and you might meet her during your annual financial plan review.