When an Advisor Calls, Who (or What) Answers?
The other day I heard a radio ad for a company promoting green technology. Most of the ad wasn’t memorable – I don’t even recall the name of the company – but the ending stuck with me. The firm gave out their toll-free number and then stated that “a live person will pick up your call”. No automated system (IVR). No menu to navigate.
I thought that sounded pretty good.
I then wondered: do any asset managers have a live person answering their toll-free phone numbers for advisors? So I called ten firms to find out. The results:
- One firm, Nuveen, has a sales rep pick up directly.
- Another, Columbia, has an IVR say your call is important before patching the advisor through to a rep.
- Three others – BlackRock, Delaware, Janus – prompt first for an extension then have the advisor hold for a rep.
- The remaining five firms present an automated menu with anywhere from 2-6 options.
In other words, half the sample enabled an advisor to reach a human being without proactively doing anything besides placing the call. Yet only Nuveen has that call directly answered by a person. I can’t claim that this makes Nuveen’s customer service any better, or that they do a better job of converting cold inbound calls to sales. But I do think the direct personal interaction is, simply, nicer. And, evidently, rare.
(As a sidebar, the configuration of the different IVR systems is worth another discussion down the road. The options vary significantly by number/type. And, interestingly, two firms use their IVRs to promote specific products prior to presenting a menu of options.)