How to build trust digitally with high-net-worth clients 

With the financial advice industry moving more online, building trust with clients digitally is becoming a key requirement for financial advisors.  

This is true for all clients, but perhaps especially for high-net-worth (HNW) clients, who need to have complete confidence in the advisor they choose to help maintain their high volume of wealth.  

According to McKinsey, 40% of HNW clients say phone or video conferences are their preferred wealth management channels, with only 15% preferring to go into branches for in-person visits. 

How can trust help grow your advisory firm? 

Trust plays a key role in the success of your firm through both retention and growth.  

One of the key reasons clients choose to leave their advisor is due to a lack of trust through poor communication, misaligned goals, or unexpected fees.  

Client retention directly impacts your firm's performance, with revenue and growth taking a hit if your client numbers go down.  

Additionally, clients who don’t trust their advisors are unlikely to recommend them to family and friends.  

According to Vanguard, 94% of investors were likely to make a referral when they "highly trusted" their advisor. 

By building trust with your HNW clients, you can put yourself and your firm on a path to success and become a noted, trustworthy source of financial advice.  

What role does trust play in the advisor-client relationship? 

Trust is a cornerstone of any relationship.  

According to Advisory Excellence, building trust with your client will lead to: 

Additionally, when choosing an advisor, consumers want one they can trust. They want to know they will receive the best information, have realistic goals, and are working with an expert who acts with honesty and integrity.  

While this is not exactly groundbreaking information, with consumers preferring online relationships over face-to-face means, advisors must develop ways to maintain trust in their relationships but do so online.  

3 ways to build trust digitally with HNW clients 

Ultimately, trust is vital, and advisors must develop ways to build it through non-traditional methods. With more clients preferring to deal with their advisors exclusively online, the days of in-person meetings and taking clients to play a round of golf could be coming to an end.  

Additionally, when looking for an advisor, consumers are predominantly searching online. This means if you want to win more clients and convert more leads, you need to establish your trustworthiness early on.  

Here are three strategies you can implement to build trust digitally: 

1. Ensure easy collaboration 

You’ll likely communicate with your high-net-worth client often, having in-depth discussions about their finances, their goals, and how their wealth is performing.  

To ensure you get the most from your clients and that they feel heard, implement a collaboration strategy to help them stay in the loop.  

This could be as easy as automating reports and updates, so they are regularly kept up to speed on how their money is performing. Not only does this allow them to provide their input, but it also keeps them informed about what you’re doing as their advisor.  

Additionally, ensure you’re offering multi-channel support.  

As mentioned earlier, phone or video conferences are their preferred over in-person visits. Additionally, 50% of HNW clients think their advisor should improve their digital capabilities. 

Digital collaboration should be embedded into your collaboration strategy.  

2. Personalize content and communication 

Your HNW client does not want to receive generic content or comms; they want timely information directly related to their situation.  

When communicating with your clients, ensure the information and content you send is relevant to them. This could be market updates related to their investments, policy changes that impact their retirement fund, or investment opportunities in areas closest to them.  

When sending this content, ensure you’re breaking it down clearly and always relating the information to their unique circumstances. You want to show you understand their needs and are always looking for ways to better manage and build their wealth.   

If your client is busy and doesn’t have time for meetings, discover ways to communicate with them more effectively. This could be sending detailed voice memos they can listen to in their own time or a weekly personalized newsletter.   

3. Prioritize security 

When working predominantly digitally with HNW clients, you need to ensure your security is of the highest quality. In fact, this applies to all advisors, whether they work with HNW clients or not.  

You hold a lot of highly sensitive information about your clients, including bank account details, legal documents, and personal information such as addresses and Social Security numbers.  

To help your clients build trust in you, you need to ensure you hold all this information securely and showcase it to them. Make them aware of your security infrastructure and how you combat data breaches or information leaks.  

Remember, it’s always better to be overly cautious and have multiple security protocols than succumb to a breach. Your clients need to know their information is in safe hands when choosing you as their financial advisor.   

Work with Unbiased 

Unbiased Pro delivers validated and verified leads straight to your inbox and gives you the tools to convert them into loyal clients.  

Discover how Unbiased can help you build trust and grow your firm.