Publicly available resources to help guide active client relationship management.
- Cleardown Solutions Editor
- Oct 10, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 9, 2024
We want to point you towards the great resources that exist on the internet today that we feel give really clear guidance on how to maintain active client relationships, and re-engage with those that have been lost. Whilst you may not be from the industries these publishing bodies represent, the underlying principles and approach are universal. After all, trying to get in touch with a client is the same whether you're a brokerage, bank, or insurer.
For our part, our services are constantly developing by monitoring best practice across the financial industry and beyond, in order to consistently deliver the gold standard of client re-engagement and money return. If you want your firm to take on the challenge alone then you would do well to use the documents below as a starting point. We continually update this page with new links and references, and feel free to contact us for advice ... we're an open book on this stuff and are happy to help anyone looking to advance the interests of their customers.
The Investment Association
Website : www.theia.org
The Investment Association has 250 members from the investment management industry and has the mission to make investment better for clients, companies and the economy. Their guidance entitled "Principles For Maintaining Active Client Relationships" from April 2022 focusses on means to reunify dis-engaged clients with their money, but is agnostic in terms of other outcomes i.e. what happens to the funds should a client not be contactable.
The document is broken down into the following principles :
Definition
Pro-active identification and communication
When the firm has lost confidence that the address they hold is the client address
Using a tracing service
Verification after a successful trace
Re-engagement communications
Reporting & governance
In the appendices you will find a sample communication to encourage clients to keep their contact details updated, a sample letter requesting for verification of contact details, and contact details for the Royal Mail and the Department of Work and Pensions.
The Association of British Insurers
Website : www.abi.org.uk
The Association of British Insurers represents 200 member companies within the UK's insurance and long-term savings industry, including most household names and specialist providers. It has a role in getting the right people together to help inform discussions at every level, provide a voice for the sector, help encourage consumer understanding of the sector, and support a competitive insurance industry, in the UK and overseas.
Their "ABI Framework for the Management of "Gone-Away" Customers in the Life and Pensions Market" was published in March 2018 and follows a similar principles based model to that presented by the Investment Association. Whilst there is a healthy overlap in a number of sections, we would recommend making note of the Recycle and Conduct Risk principles for a different angle.
The principles the ABI promote are :
Definition
Quality Validation
Identification
Tracing
Verification
Recycle
Contact Targets
Post Re-engagement
Process
Controls & Reporting
Conduct Risk
Of relevance is also the June 2023 "Preparing for participation in the Dormant Assets Scheme" which although has a target audience of insurance and pension providers who are considering participating in the voluntary Dormant Assets Scheme, does also provide considerable guidance on tracing, verification and reconnection (TVR) in chapter 2.
If you want to discuss an aspect of this blog post, our services, or any other related queries, then please contact us and we will be happy to help.