Technology is terrible for relationships… Just as Simon Sinek says

How do clients determine whether the relationship with their advisor is valuable to them? It’s by the level of usefulness they believe they presently gain, and will gain, from the interaction. This is commonly called a satisfaction rating. Individuals arrive at these ratings subjectively. Quantifying the relevant drivers of satisfaction is a challenge for firms. Remember, what we can’t measure we can’t manage.

So how do we begin to draw out and quantify these subjective drivers? I’m going to be contentious here. in my experience 50% of the relationship value is dependent upon the eventual level of ‘utility’ the advice provides my client whilst the other 50% is based on relationship drivers that are important to the client. The relationship drivers indicate the level of trust the client has in the performance of the advisor.

Simon Sinek’s video “The Human in Humanity” speaks to the 50% based on the relationship drivers, he focuses on trust. He strongly suggests that trust diminishes within organisations, and with clients and customers when the organisation and/or the advisor stops focussing on human interactions and puts more focus on profits and the bottom line.

Although, as Simon says, technology is wonderful for building connections and transactions, it is terrible for human connection. And with that, building trust. I’m often reminded that clients remain clients because of the trust they have built with your firm through the interactions you have with them – not from seeing the usefulness and relevance of what and how you provide the service to them.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this…