If you were a fly on the wall at Herbert Scott HQ, you would witness a financial planning firm buzzing with ideas on ways we can improve our services and add more value for our clients. The customer experience is central to everything we do.
As a client of ours, you may already have a strong appreciation for who we are as a business and how your financial planner supports you and your family. From the outside looking in, however, it can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint exactly what a financial planner does and why you should consider hiring one.
A growing business
Part of our responsibility as a business is to ensure we continue to grow and provide valuable services for our clients, whether they be longstanding, new or prospective relationships. Continuously striving to improve and grow the business is all part of our long-term sustainability plan. We want to make sure we’re around for as long as you need us.
But how do you grow a financial planning business? Well, simply put, we want to attract more clients like you to build long-lasting professional relationships with. We’re very proud of the work we do and have a wonderful team ready to help more people answer complicated financial questions. Everything is in place for us to achieve our goals, it now comes down to executing the plan.
Part of this plan will involve hosting regular client events. The aim of these is to provide a break from the mundane and offer something a bit different, whilst adding value and hopefully solving some financial problems along the way.
When we moved to our beautiful office building in 2019, part of the vision was to use the space to entertain clients, host local business events, and invite people who may just be curious to come in and find out more. Sadly, the advent of a global pandemic threw a rather large spanner in the works, and our grand plans were put on hold.
‘Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear’ – George Addair
It’s with great delight that we can now say we’ve hosted two events in the space of a week – talk about 0-100mph! It’s always daunting trying something new and letting people see behind the curtain, but sometimes in life, you’ve just got to throw yourself behind an idea and see what happens. Well, all I can say is I wish we had done it sooner.
From plan to action
We hosted our first ever client event on Thursday 23rd November, titled: Meaningful ways to enjoy your money and save on inheritance tax. This was a wonderful opportunity for existing clients to spend an afternoon with us, where our focus was to encourage and inspire them to spend money on experiences and save on inheritance tax. An estate planning seminar with a twist.
We see a big part of what we offer as educating our clients on financial matters, empowering them to make great financial decisions. The first half of this event was an introduction to inheritance tax and estate planning. The great thing about this and why it worked so well was the engagement from people in the room. Several clients brought their children along with them, which inspired conversations and opened their eyes to dynamics in their family’s financial affairs they had not considered before. This, we feel, reflects wonderfully on the environment we’ve created and the trust our clients have in us as a business.
Next, comes the twist. It’s not the money you have, but what you do with it that counts. We strongly believe it is our duty to inspire and motivate people to live their best lives, safe in the knowledge their money is being diligently taken care of. From hundreds, if not thousands of conversations with our clients, we know travel is at the top of many people’s lists when it comes to imagining their ideal lifestyle. So, who better to inspire our clients’ next trip overseas than an expert from bespoke travel agents, Trailfinders.
Land of the Rising Sun
We were so pleased to welcome travel expert, Nick Eburah, to come and give us a virtual tour of Japan, with all there is to see and do in a wonderfully vibrant country. Our guests were treated to a range of ideas for their next trip, and we hope a few of them get around to booking their tickets! As well as being a first for Herbert Scott, Nick informed us this was also the first time Trailfinders had been invited to speak at a financial services event. It’s nice to know we’re offering something a little different.
As well as an intro to Inheritance Tax and exploring Japan, our guests enjoyed a spread of Japanese cuisine from the local Sushi bar (and maybe a little Sake!). It was lovely to see our clients and their family members fully engaged throughout the afternoon, and the feedback we received was outstanding. Our plan is to roll out a full event series in 2024, so watch this space!
Festive Fun
Our second client event was a little more light-hearted and festive. Held on Wednesday, 29th November, we invited Clare from Riverside Flowers Lewes to run a Wreath making workshop at our office and invited clients to come and join in. It was a huge hit, and the feedback again was excellent.
Tracey Payne, our Investment Director and event organiser said “Clare did such an amazing job, she is so professional and skilled. We all took away something to be proud of despite our lack of wreath making skills. The ladies loved it and the feedback has been brilliant.”
Building stronger relationships with our clients doesn’t always have to be a formal affair at Herbert Scott. This was a wonderful afternoon filled with festive cheer and everyone went away with something to proudly place on their front door.
Thank you
We want our clients to know how important they are to us, and these first two events have been hugely enjoyable experiences for everyone. We feel honoured and privileged to have such strong connections with the people we work with, and it’s great to know they feel supported. Thank you to all who got involved and made both these events a huge amount of fun. Long may it continue.
If you want to learn more about how Herbert Scott can help you live your best life, please contact us to speak with one of our financial planners by calling us on 01273 407500 or emailing enquiries@herbertscott.uk