5 Steps to Client Retention for Financial Advisors

As a marketing agency for financial advisors, we post a lot about growing your business and attracting new clients. But all too often we see financial advisors ignore marketing when it comes to how to retain clients once they’ve signed. The truth is a strong, consistent marketing strategy is also a great client retention strategy.
So, read on for five steps financial advisors can take to improve client retention and how partnering with a marketing agency can make all the difference.
Why Client Retention Is Important
For financial advisors, client retention is a critical component to fostering long-term relationships and maintaining a stable and consistent revenue stream.
Retaining clients:
- Reduces overall costs since servicing existing clients is less expensive than acquiring new ones (by 5x on average!)
- Increases the lifetime value of each client through ongoing fees, referrals, and potential cross-selling opportunities
- Improves client satisfaction and trust, which are essential for building a strong reputation in the financial industry
What Is a Good Client Retention Rate?
For financial advisors, a good client retention rate is between 95% – 97%, according to industry benchmarking studies.
Effective client retention strategies ensure that you can enhance client loyalty and contribute to your business’ overall growth and stability.
Read on for tips on how to improve client retention for financial advisors.
1. Understand Your Clients’ Needs
Some advisors think meeting clients’ needs means simply hitting performance benchmarks and achieving financial goals. In reality, clients work with financial advisors for much more than just the investment return.
Financial decisions are often tied to significant life events which can be a source of uncertainty, and anxiety. Advisors who recognize and address the emotional factors behind the finances and respond with reassurance and personalized support are more likely to retain clients.
To utilize this client retention strategy, go beyond mere financial advice by listening actively, showing empathy, and asking about client concerns, aspirations, and feedback.
How a Marketing Agency Can Help: A marketing agency can facilitate soliciting feedback through email communication and social posts. Requesting client feedback can reveal areas where clients need more support and allow you to adjust your approach before client concerns turn into lost accounts.
2. Communicate Regularly and Effectively
One of the most impactful client retention strategies for financial advisors is regular and effective communication. You can foster transparency and build trust by keeping clients informed about updates with your firm, market trends, financial tips, and any changes that might affect their plan.
To promote regular and effective communication, you can:
- Send out a monthly newsletter that includes insights on recent economic events, financial planning tips, and a brief personalized message that keeps clients engaged and informed.
- Host quarterly webinars where clients learn more about your firm, ask financial questions, and get real-time answers.
- Make personalized phone calls and emails, especially during market volatility or other significant events (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic, First Republic Bank failure, election season).
- Leverage various communication channels to ensure clients receive information in a manner that suits their preferences, whether through email, social media, or a dedicated client portal.
- Create an FAQ section on your website to address common client concerns.
How a Marketing Agency Can Help: A marketing agency like Indigo can help with all these examples. We create a communication strategy that works for your target audience, which can include newsletters, webinars, website copywriting, blog posts, and social media updates. We craft personalized messages that match your brand’s unique voice and values, allowing you to keep clients engaged without bogging down your time.
3. Provide Exceptional Service
There’s a common saying in business to “underpromise and overdeliver.” While we don’t necessarily agree with underpromising, we wholeheartedly endorse over-delivering and believe this is the key to a strong client retention strategy.
Providing exceptional client service includes:
- Being responsive to inquiries and promptly resolving issues
- Proactively scheduling check-in meetings and offering advice when client circumstances change
- Providing value-added services like tax optimization or estate planning
- Personalized touchpoints like sending birthday cards or anniversary cards to celebrate milestone events
How a Marketing Agency Can Help: Though actually providing exceptional service is up to you, a marketing agency can help highlight your unique value proposition and customer service excellence through your marketing assets. Case studies, testimonials, success stories, and online reviews are all important elements for communicating your value and ensuring your reputation remains stellar among clients and prospects alike.
4. Offer Educational Resources
Empowering clients with knowledge about investing and financial planning can strengthen your relationship by improving client confidence and satisfaction.
Offering educational resources like webinars, workshops, and blog posts help clients make informed decisions and demonstrates your commitment to their overall financial well-being. Topics might include budgeting tips, understanding different investment vehicles, or navigating life events like buying a home, planning for college, and saving for retirement.
Providing downloadable guides, e-books, and checklists can further support clients in their financial journeys and give them tools to refer back to in the future.
How a Marketing Agency Can Help: This is one of the client retention strategies where partnering with a marketing agency can be most impactful. At Indigo, we are experts at developing and promoting educational content for your clients, including blog posts, videos, webinars, and downloadable guides.
5. Leverage Technology
For modern financial advisors, using technology is essential to enhancing the client experience and it is one of the most effective client retention strategies.
This includes implementing CRM systems to manage client relationships, offering online portals for easy access to account information, and leveraging data analytics to personalize services. It also includes features like a high-speed, mobile-friendly website. Offering online appointment scheduling, secure document sharing, and educational resources that are accessible from any device can improve the overall client experience and keep your client retention rate high.
How a Marketing Agency Can Help: A full-service marketing agency like Indigo is a great resource for leveraging technology to improve client retention and free up your time. We can develop automated marketing sequences tailored to your client’s needs, like welcome emails for new clients, reminders for upcoming meetings, and updates on market trends.
Not only that, but our experienced web designers can audit your site and make adjustments as needed to ensure it is set up to provide your clients with a seamless online experience. And our monthly marketing metrics report is a great way to gain insights into client preferences which can be used to tailor communications so that clients receive the most relevant support.
Balancing Client Retention & Growth With Indigo
Finding balance between client retention and business growth is essential for long-term success. At Indigo Marketing Agency, we specialize in helping financial advisors like you nurture existing relationships while attracting new clients.
- Custom Marketing Solutions: Our team of dedicated experts understands your unique needs and delivers top-tier results that exceed expectations.
- Automated Marketing Efforts: We streamline the time-consuming, repetitive marketing tasks so you can focus on client service.
- Tracking ROI: We provide the latest insights on which marketing activities generate the best returns, allowing for better resource allocation.
Let’s work together to create a comprehensive marketing plan that drives growth without compromising the quality of your existing client relationships.
To discover how we can support your journey toward sustainable success, schedule your free strategy session today.

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FAQs
Client retention is a measure of a business’s ability to keep its customers over a specified period of time. For financial advisors, it is crucial because it reduces overall costs (servicing existing clients is less expensive than acquiring new ones), increases the lifetime value of each client, and improves client satisfaction and trust. This is essential for building a strong reputation and maintaining a stable revenue stream.
A good client retention rate for financial advisors is between 95% and 97%, according to industry benchmarking studies. Effective client retention strategies can enhance client loyalty and contribute to the overall growth and stability of a financial advisory business.
Financial advisors can understand their clients’ needs better by going beyond mere financial advice. They should listen actively, show empathy, and ask about client concerns, aspirations, and feedback. Recognizing and addressing the emotional factors behind financial decisions can significantly improve client retention. Partnering with a marketing agency can help facilitate soliciting feedback through email communication and social posts.
Effective communication strategies for improving client retention include:
- Sending out monthly newsletters with insights on recent economic events, financial planning tips, and personalized messages.
- Hosting quarterly webinars for clients to learn more, ask questions, and get real-time answers.
- Making personalized phone calls and emails during significant events.
- Leveraging various communication channels like email, social media, or a dedicated client portal.
- Creating an FAQ section on the website to address common client concerns.
Technology enhances the client experience by implementing CRM systems to manage client relationships, offering online portals for easy access to account information, and leveraging data analytics to personalize services. Additionally, features like high-speed, mobile-friendly websites, online appointment scheduling, secure document sharing, and accessible educational resources improve the overall client experience. Partnering with a marketing agency can help develop automated marketing sequences and optimize the website for a seamless online experience.