“Value what you have, but seek for more” Socrates 4BC

Ann Monks and Barbara Hamilton, Smith & Williamson Client care 3pm-3.30pm, 18 October 2007

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 About us Ann Monks Marketing Director for the Smith & Williamson Group 17 years’ experience in professional services marketing Chartered Institute of Marketing, Associate in Promotional Practice Former chair of Professional Marketing Forum in London Alumna of KPMG Responsible for overall marketing strategy Member of Nexia International’s European Marketing Committee Barbara Hamilton Associate Director within Marketing and head of Business Development for the Smith & Williamson Group Chartered Marketer, Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing, BA (Hons) in Retail Marketing Chair of Professional Marketing Forum in London Alumna of Herbert Smith, Allen & Overy, PwC, Sun Microsystems Responsible for business and client development programmes at Smith & Williamson

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 Today we will cover What client care means Why we need it What our clients expect from us Client care at Nexia International What we’re doing at Smith & Williamson Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 What is client care? Client care is the way we deliver our services, it is our approach. We have to remember that our clients are people not businesses. Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 What do our clients expect from us? To meet their expectations Provide accurate and well informed advice To be interested in them Understand their issues Be flexible and treat each client separately Pass on our knowledge To charge a fair price Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 Why we need client care Our clients have a choice and will work with more than one professional adviser To protect our future revenues and avoid complacency Deliver consistency across our business and manage our reputation We operate in an increasingly competitive market We are growing as a business and new people are joining us Everyone needs to know what quality we are trying to achieve Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 What good client care looks like The client knows who is looking after them There are clean lines of communication Information is shared appropriately Everyone knows what is expected of them Work runs smoothly, on budget and on time The client feels happy to pay the fee Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 What bad client care looks like The team changes constantly The client is asked the same questions twice The director/partner is not available Simple mistakes keep being made The fee is not the same as the quote The director doesn’t seem that interested Things seem a bit rushed Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 Good client care at Nexia International As much as possible the service is seamlessly delivered Expectations are set early and both sides know what they have to do Reporting is coordinated so what the client sees is consistent across borders as much as it can be Information is shared amongst the different teams Cultural differences are understood and outputs adapted The focus is on what the client wants and what they expect Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 What gets in the way of good client care Language and cultural issues Relative experience and maturity of markets Project management is not owned centrally so deadlines are missed Different perspectives on what is good quality Different resources and experience The client’s status differs across markets Nexia is not the same as one firm but the client treats it as if it is Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 At New project across Tax & Business Services to launch client care standards across the business Follows a review of our lead director and key client programme and some client feedback Recognition of a need to embed what we do well and change behaviours where service can improve Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 Our dilemma Who a client is varies enormously across the business The nature of the relationship varies –Same client your whole career –Never the same client twice The nature of the work varies –Primary and secondary adviser roles –Transactional, compliance and advisory work –Project versus cyclical assignments Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 What we have done Put together a steering group to make sure that what we do is relevant across the business Created objectives and some simple standards for client care Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 The objectives for client care at Smith & Williamson Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 We want to be recognised as: ResponsiveEfficientProfessional Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 Professionalism Invest in our technical expertise Innovative services Recognised by clients for our reliability Appropriately qualified staff on each job Work well with other advisers Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 Efficiency Good project management Every job is appropriately planned and scoped Seamless delivery of multi-department services No wasted resources Minimal disruption Profitable assignments Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 Responsiveness Demonstrate an interest in clients Change our behaviour to fit clients needs Obtain feedback on our performance Adapt to and initiate change Barbara Hamilton

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 And finally … Client care is not a separate process but a part of what we do every day Client care relates to everyone in a firm not just fee earning members of staff Barriers to change are lifting so it is more important than ever to be good at service Start with what you are already good at Involve clients it is them that you have to please Ann Monks

Ann Monks & Barbara Hamilton Nexia International Conference 18 October 2007 Q&A

Ann Monks and Barbara Hamilton, Smith & Williamson, Client care 3pm-3.30pm, 18 October 2007