Skip to main content

You are here

Advertisement

Things Plan Sponsor Clients Won’t Tell You

“It’s all about communication.” That sums up the core message that Chatham Partners Managing Director Joshua Dietch and UBS Financial Services Senior Vice President for Wealth Management Harris Gignilliat conveyed in an April 18 workshop presentation at the 15th annual NAPA 401(k) Summit.

Advisors need to focus on communication — and on making sure that it digs deep and provides them with insights into their clients’ needs and also conveys to the client that their advisor is engaged and grasps their needs, they emphasized.

“It’s all about spade work,” said Dietch. He noted that the advisors who were the most successful in winning and retaining plan sponsors’ business did the following:


  • asked clarifying questions to prioritize the company’s needs;

  • clearly understood the company’s goals; and

  • proposed solutions that fit the company’s needs.


“Ask questions that give you clues from a prospect for the path to success,” suggested Dietch. It also may be useful for an advisor to ask himself or herself if the level of service they provide still meets the plan sponsor’s needs, and how those needs may have changed since the plan sponsor first engaged his or her services.

But Gignilliat also remarked that advisors also need to keep in mind that there may be reasons for a client’s non-communication that are attributable to an advisor and may be due to temporary circumstances beyond an advisior’s — or even a plan sponsor’s — control.

For instance, said Gignilliiat, there may be a merger in the works that necessitates silence mandated from the parties involved in the negotiation; there may be budgetary constraints; or a representative with whom an advisor works may no longer be employed at the plan sponsor.

Find out the moving parts behind the scenes, Gignilliat suggested, noting, “Sometimes the questions that are the most uncomfortable are the best,” since they can result in a conversation that is more pure and transparent — and useful to both parties.

“I don’t know that you can ever contact too much,” remarked Gignilliat.

Advertisement