A Step By Step Guide To Our Communication With Clients
When it comes to financial planning, managing money merely scratches the surface. Perhaps one of the most critical elements of financial planning is both simple and highly complex:
Communication.
Study after study reveals that people want to work with an advisor who communicates well with them via meetings, updates, check-in calls, thought-leadership, etc.
And that makes sense. You wouldn’t want to collaborate with someone who didn’t translate complex topics into your real life or discuss your plan in personal terms.
It’s always been our mission at Step by Step to cultivate deep, meaningful relationships with our clients, and that starts with reliable, clear, and compassionate communication.
So how do we communicate with clients?
It’s time to pull back the curtain and understand what it means to be a Step by Step client.
Step By Step’s Communication Channels
We’ll let you in on a little secret up front: we genuinely love communicating with our clients.
Our communication philosophy aims to meet clients where they’re at and increase access to our firm. The bottom line? We want to talk to you! And here are a few fundamental ways we do that.
Video Communication
Videos are the new frontier, and we’re so excited to implement them across our communication channels—newsletter, blog, social media, etc.
With video, you can listen to short, bite-sized content about what’s happening in the world of finance and the unique things going on around the Step by Step office that directly impacts you.
Video education is a hallmark of our communication, so expect to see it everywhere!
Weekly E-Newsletter
The world of finance is an ongoing tapestry that’s constantly evolving, and we want to help you find your place within it.
We’ll send you a weekly newsletter to your preferred email address full of valuable insights, trending finance news, firm updates, reading guides, and other useful tidbits. This way, you’ll always be aware of what’s happening both inside and outside our firm.
Don’t be surprised if you see plenty of videos attached to our newsletter! We’re passionate about creating videos that provide expert insight into a topic, idea, or update.
Bi-Weekly Blog Content
The Step by Step blog is back and ready to dive into exciting and engaging topics that directly apply to your life. Our content aims to answer your most pressing questions and educate you on personal finance matters you truly care about.
For example, we’ll cover:
- How to tell if you’ll have enough money to retire comfortably
- What your investments should look like before and during retirement
- Protecting the wealth you’ve worked so hard to build
- Generous ways to give to your community all while being tax-friendly
- Creating intentional goals to bring more purpose to your money
And so much more!
We want you to feel comfortable and confident about your money; as the saying goes, knowledge is power. It’s the power to ask the tough questions, trust professional advice, and stick with a goals and values-aligned plan.
Our team is busy strategizing, researching, and typing away, so you can expect new content biweekly. We’ll also link to our blogs via the newsletter and social media channels so you can read the content where and when it’s most convenient for you.
Daily Social Media Posts
Did you know that Step by Step has a Facebook page?
You didn’t?
No worries now is an excellent time to start following us.
On average, people spend almost 2.5 hours a day on social media, and so we wanted to meet you where you’re at—on your newsfeed.
Our daily social media posts run the gamut from videos, words of wisdom, pressing topics or issues, firm updates, blog content, holiday shout-outs, and other interesting things we want you to know.
This is a great place where you can also interact with us—ask questions, tell us what you think about a topic/strategy, etc. We love collaborating with you!
One-On-One Client Communication
In addition to reaching our entire client base with the above communication channels, we want to talk with you one-on-one about your unique plan, goals, questions, and concerns.
Staying on top of your financial plan and being proactive in our communication with you is a top priority. Here’s how you can expect to receive ongoing personal communications.
Individual Meetings
Just like in life, your money, goals, and priorities may shift depending on which season you’re in.
For example, if you’re on the cusp of retirement, you may have a one-track mind about your retirement income plan, investments, withdrawal strategies, and more.
Or perhaps after a couple of years into retirement, you realize you want to move closer to your family and want to see how to make that financially possible.
No matter your goals, questions, or concerns, we can talk through them and build a custom way forward in our one-on-one meetings.
We offer anywhere from 2 to 4 virtual or in-person meetings a year, depending on your needs and wants. If you have a complex financial situation or if something in your plan drastically changes, we might need to meet more frequently than if everything is smooth sailing.
Our door is always open to you, and we are here to help you manage your finances ongoing. If you’re due for a check-in, you can schedule your next meeting here.
New to Step by Step and interested to learn more?
Let’s chat to see if we’ll be a good fit.
Text, Phone, and Email Updates
It’s imperative that our clients be well-informed, and to do that, we will reach out to you in a few ways:
- Phone call
- Text updates
We may text you to remind you about an upcoming appointment, prompt you to complete a form via your secure financial planning vault (more on that below), etc.
Pro tip: Provide the phone number and email address you’d like us to use when contacting you.
For example, if you’d prefer that our emails not go to your work address, be sure you give us your personal email. The same idea applies to your phone number. Please give us the most accurate and updated contact methods, so we reach you in the ways most convenient for you.
The Inner Workings Of Step by Step
At Step by Step, we’ve developed processes and invested in software to make your client experience top-notch. Let’s look at an overview of the primary elements you should know about.
Real-Time Financial Planning Software
Your financial plan has several moving pieces, but what if you could see them all in one place?
With our software, you can.
Our real-time financial planning software empowers you to stay on top of your money. You’ll be able to access your investments, tax plan, goals, milestones, projections, and more, so you always know what’s going on with your larger financial plan.
Plus, we have a secure vault where you can upload critical documents like your tax, insurance, equity, and other compensation information. For example, before a meeting, we may request that you upload updated information or fill out a particular form. We can push that communication out to you via this software, and you can upload everything securely.
Brand-Named Custodial Service
If you’ve been with us for a while, you may notice that our custodial service got an upgrade. We have a brand-named custodial service through Fidelity.
We always aim to provide you with the highest quality service, and one way we’re taking it to the next level is by working with Asset Dedication. They will bring so much value to your investments and help us regularly track tax-loss harvesting, timely investments, best pricing on bond purchases, and so much more that will directly benefit your portfolio.
If you want to learn more about these changes, check out one of our most recent videos.
Someone Is Always In The Office
Yes, we mean always.
Whenever we’re open, one of our staff members will be in the office, so you can give us a call or stop by and say hi. No matter what, we’re available to you.
Our “All of The Above” Communication Style
Think back to a time when you were taking a multiple-choice test. Sometimes one of the options was “all of the above.”
Well, at Step by Step, we take an “all of the above” approach to our communication.
Why?
Because it enables us to be proactive about reaching out to you and developing a foundation for trust and transparency.
With these various communication channels, we can also be very personal with our clients. It’s important that we’re open and personal with you to set the tone for the type of relationship we hope to cultivate.
Speaking of communication, let’s get in touch!
Set up a meeting with our team today.
We can’t wait to continue the conversation.