Client Events: Building Stronger Financial Advisor-Client Relationships

Client events play an essential role in a financial advisor's practice. These gatherings provide an excellent opportunity for financial advisors to connect with their clients personally, foster trust, and strengthen the advisor-client relationship. However, they can be work, and a good event is more complex than just throwing it on the calendar. In this article, we will explore the benefits of client events for financial advisors, give you a few event ideas, and offer some tips on making them successful.

Why Client Events Matter

Build Stronger Relationships: Face-to-face interactions can strengthen the bond between advisors and their clients. Spending time in a relaxed setting allows for personal connections and can build trust beyond the professional relationship. Plus, they make it very easy to socialize with your clients without feeling like you are imposing, which many advisors can struggle with.  

Educate Clients: Client events can serve as an opportunity to educate clients about financial markets, new investment opportunities, changes in tax laws, or other relevant topics. Not only can an informed client make better decisions with their money, but it also gives them a chance to talk and even brag about what they have learned with their friends, family, and colleagues.

Show Appreciation: Hosting events can be a way to thank clients for their loyalty and trust. Additionally, research has shown that clients who have a social relationship with their advisor are more likely to refer and less likely to question your value and associated fees.

Attract New Business: Existing clients can bring friends or colleagues who might be potential clients. Word-of-mouth referrals are highly valued in the financial advisory world, and this is an easy opportunity to ask clients to introduce you to someone in their network in a fun atmosphere. Plus, if the person they bring has an advisor who isn't doing events, it is probably not a good look for the other advisor. Think FOMO.

Position as an Expert: By hosting events where valuable information is shared, advisors can position themselves as experts in the field. This can increase their credibility and attract more business.

Stay Updated with Client Needs: By interacting with clients outside of formal meetings, advisors can gain insights into clients' changing life circumstances, goals, or concerns that they might not have shared otherwise. For example, compare and contrast how much you share with colleagues when you are in the office versus how much you share about your life with those same colleagues when you are out of the office at a team event, lunch, or happy hour? The same can be said of clients and their advisors, especially if they only see their advisor once or twice a year for an hour or two, which is always in a business setting.

Promote Services: Client events provide an avenue to introduce new services or enhancements to the firm or explain more about the services already being offered that they may have forgotten about. How many times have you talked with a client that didn't know you had a the service they were looking for.

Network with Other Professionals: Events can also be a platform for clients to meet other professionals, such as CPA's, estate planners, or benefits and payroll providers if you are a retirement plan advisor. This can provide added value to clients and solidify the advisor's role as a central hub in the client's financial life. It also allows COIs to bring some of their clients you may not know, making meeting some of their key relationships easy. In other words, you are missing out if you are not inviting COIs to your client events.

Enhance Brand Awareness: Hosting events, especially those that are well-executed, can enhance the visibility and reputation of the advisor's brand at a significantly lower cost than sponsoring something where you get 'signage.'

Gather Feedback: Events offer a chance to gather feedback on how the advisor is doing, any concerns clients might have, or suggestions for improvement. On more than one occasion, I have been more willing to give feedback after a few drinks, for better or worse, lol.

Engage with the Community: Hosting events can also be a way for financial advisors to give back to the community, especially if they integrate charitable elements or support local businesses. Or, alternatively, one of my favorite things is volunteering alongside a client. Not sure where to start with this? Next time a client asks you to support an organization they are involved with monetarily, take it further and see if you can volunteer for a day at that organization next to your client. This will mean so much more to them and the organization, and research shows that when you give back to the community through volunteering, people report being happier! That is a win, win, win situation.

However, while hosting client events has many potential benefits, financial advisors need to plan them thoughtfully. The event should be tailored to the interests and needs of your clients and be logistically well-organized to ensure a positive experience for attendees.  

So, what are some fun and unique events to host?

Unique Client Event Ideas

Escape Room Challenge: Book a local escape room for your clients. It's an engaging way to test problem-solving skills and encourage teamwork.

Themed Nights: Have events themed around popular movies, time periods, or cultural celebrations. For example, a "Great Gatsby" Roaring Twenties night.

Cooking or Mixology Class: Hire a chef or mixologist to teach your clients how to make a particular dish or cocktail.

Mystery Dinner Theater: Host a dinner where professional actors involve the audience in solving a mystery.

VR Experience: Rent a virtual reality arcade. It can offer a futuristic and immersive experience for your clients. This is a great tag along to the 'firm of the future' many advisors are trying to build.

Artistic Workshop: Pottery, painting, or craft workshops can be a relaxing and creative way to spend time together. It is also a really cool opportunity to meet a spouse you may not otherwise always get to engage with.

Charity Events: Organize an event where clients can volunteer together, like building homes, planting trees, or participating in a charity run.

Boat Cruise: Rent a boat for a day or evening and provide dinner, drinks, and entertainment while cruising. Here in Austin, we have a 'bat' cruise because many are not away, but we have the largest urban population of bats in the US living under the Congress St bridge right in downtown Austin.

Local Adventure Tour: This could be a historic walking tour, a ghost tour, a food-tasting tour, or any other local specialty. I prefer a brewery tour.  

Outdoor Movie Night: Set up an outdoor screen, provide comfy seating, popcorn, and project a classic movie.

Trivia Night: Organize a themed trivia night based on your niche or popular culture.

Tasting Event: Wine, whiskey, cheese, or chocolate tastings. Pair with an expert to educate guests.

Custom Perfume/Cologne Workshop: Let clients create their unique scent guided by an expert.

Stargazing Night: Rent a telescope, hire an astronomer, and spend an evening looking at the stars. On the surface, this may not seem that fun, but we have a few solar eclipses coming up.

Sports Day: Rent out a local sports facility and host a mini-tournament or lesson (e.g., golf, tennis, archery).  

Circus or Magic Workshop: Allow clients to learn juggling, magic tricks, or even trapeze in a controlled environment. This may be more for your clients with young kids, but your clients, your decision.  

Board Game Night: Classic or modern games, potentially customized with questions or challenges specific to your niche.

Farm or Vineyard Day: Visit a local farm or vineyard. It can be combined with a picnic or BBQ; this is also a great family day event.

Pop-up Shop or Showcase: If your clients produce tangible products, give them a platform to display and sell their goods.

Tech Playground: Showcase the latest in tech gadgets, AR/VR, or other innovations. Clients can play and experiment in a relaxed environment. I have also seen someone bring in a 'genius' from the Mac store who showed people how to get everything out of their iPhone and iMac.

Meditation and Mindfulness Retreat: Offer a day of relaxation with guided meditation, yoga, and serene activities. My friend @rajasampathi is an excellent resource for this.

Custom Hat Fitting: Who doesn't love a custom cowboy hat?!? One of my favorite of all time. :)

Remember to consider the preferences and interests of your client base when choosing an event. Personal touches, attention to detail, and a unique twist can make your event memorable.

So, outside of the actual event itself being memorable, how do you take it to the next level? The planning. Because people will remember how well run the event was long after they remember the actual activity.

Tips for Successful Client Events

Plan with Purpose:

Begin by defining the purpose and goals of your event. Is it to celebrate milestones, educate clients about a topic, or create a relaxed environment for socializing? Clear objectives will guide your event planning. I've attended extremely entertaining events with no defined purpose. While it's a great memory, I couldn't help but think the ROI was very low as no one capitalized on the endorphins being released during my enjoyment. Capitalize on those positive interactions in the moment. A clear objective can be as simple as meeting someone new.

Choose the Right Venue: 

Select a venue that aligns with the event's purpose and client preferences. Whether it's an elegant restaurant, a casual cafe, or a virtual platform, the setting should facilitate meaningful interactions. Being able to converse is crucial to achieving objectives. If you know the event will be in a loud environment, set up a more intimate space to meet first and present with a purpose on what you are trying to achieve.

Personalize Invitations: 

Send personalized invitations to your clients, showing that you value their presence. Include details about the event's agenda, dress code, and special activities or speakers. While automation in sending invites is more efficient, it gives clients a physiological out not to attend or respond as they may feel their response doesn't matter. Also, this will significantly boost your ROI on the event as more people will attend, which is the point, right?

Encourage Interaction: 

Create opportunities for clients to engage with each other and with you. Icebreakers, group discussions, or guest speakers can facilitate meaningful conversations. While icebreakers are no one's favorite thing, subconsciously, they give us a common ground. I can't tell you the number of times I've made a joke about an icebreaker to segway into a conversation. Or, when introducing someone to someone new, I always try to give them some common ground as a jumping-off point, such as Ted, meet Sally, Sally is also in a tennis league just like you are, Ted.

Be Attentive and Listen: 

During the event, actively listen to your clients. Ask open-ended questions about their life and take mental notes for future conversations. I elaborated on active listening in a previous newsletter. If you would like, you can read more here.

Follow-up: 

I can't stress this enough, but send a handwritten thank-you note to attendees. This helps to continue the conversation and nurture these relationships because, honestly, who doesn't love to get a hand written note? Include something personal you learned about the client at the event, too, if applicable. And, if thank you notes differ from your thing, give them a call, thank them, and be bold and ask for feedback on the event.

In conclusion, client networking events are valuable for financial advisors to build stronger client relationships. These gatherings provide a platform for personal connection, trust-building, and potential growth through referrals. By carefully planning and executing these events, financial advisors can create an environment where clients feel valued and appreciated, ultimately leading to more successful and enduring partnerships. Most importantly, have fun with it. Clients attend these events to have an enjoyable experience, and you should, too! It will give you the energy to continue planning future events and crushing your business goals.

Clayton Boone is the founder of Ring The Bell Coaching. He lives in Austin, TX, with his wife, Katelyn, their two boys, Remington and Lincoln, and their Labradoodle, Dallas. He can regularly be found building Legos, painting Warhammer 40k, or outside with his boys, enjoying a good Friday Happy Hour with Kate, or riding his bike around Austin.

Ring The Bell Coaching provides Financial Advisor Coaching and Training in four categories.

1. Business Development

2. Written and Verbal Client Communication

3. Sales Process and Automation

4. Leadership Development

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