Chuck Bean on White Glove Service

Show Timeline:     

1:23 What makes Heritage Financial Services an outstanding firm
Their recent growth and details on the client service approach
6:22 How the firm’s team strategy came to be
The realization that kicked off the process, and the first steps Chuck took
8:46 Chuck’s hiring strategy and the firm’s philosophy
The skills he looks for in new team members, and how the philosophy is tied to those principles
10:43 What ‘white glove’ service means to Heritage
How they utilize their CRM and ensure all of the right scenarios are mapped out for clients
13:10 The firm’s onboarding process
Everything they expect of, and provide to, clients as they start to build the relationships
18:43 Why a surprisingly large number of clients do not make it to the third meeting
The standards set by Heritage for the clientele with which they want to work
24:22 The value they have gained from having a client advisory board
Examples of feedback from the board that helps the firm differentiate itself
26:19 Going beyond feedback to designing parts of their service with clients
The spectrum of experiences and services that have been created with help from the board
29:57 How the firm’s comprehensive approach leads to referrals
What they hear from clients, and how they’re able to continue to grow organically
31:04 Going back into Chuck’s history and transition from the hybrid model to RIA
And the plan for the next five years
35:31 A personal story from Chuck
Donning work gloves to provide white glove service

Links:

Website: www.heritagefinancial.net
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesbean/

Want more?

Stephen Wershing: www.TheClientDrivenPractice.com/checklistblog
Julie Littlechild: www.absoluteengagement.com/blog

Episode Transcript:

Steve Wershing:         
Welcome to Becoming Referable, the podcast that shows you how to become the kind of advisor people can’t stop talking about. I’m Steve Wershing. On this episode we talk with Chuck Bean, Founder and CEO of Heritage Financial Services in Boston.

Heritage has been recognized several times for its growth and for its client service, including being the 2017 winner of the Charles Schwab Best in Business Impact Award. We take a close look at the firm’s processes and its philosophy. We talk about how they’ve centralized financial planning and investment management so that its wealth managers and wealth advisors can concentrate on the client relationships. Some firms struggle with getting clients to round up paperwork for a plan, so you might be surprised at how much Heritage demands of its clients even before committing to a relationship. We talk about what Heritage has learned from its client advisory board and how they’ve put that feedback into action. And stay through to the end where Chuck tells us a story from his past about personal service and how high he sets the bar for commitment to clients. It’s a memorable story you’ll want to hear.

And now here’s our conversation with Chuck Bean.

Chuck Bean, welcome to the Becoming Referable podcast. We’re so happy to have you today.

Chuck Bean:     
Thank you very much for having me.

Julie Littlechild:       
Yeah, great to have you here today.

Steve Wershing:   
So, Chuck, you started Heritage Financial Services in Boston and the firm has been recognized a few times for the outstanding job that you do. I’ve worked with you for a bunch of years on your advisory board. I’ve had the chance to both see what a good job you do and hear directly from your clients, including the most recent Schwab Impact Award. So give us a little insight as to how you built a firm like that. What have you focused on that you think has helped given you that kind of reputation with clients and with the industry?

Chuck Bean:     
Thank you, yes. We’ve had remarkable growth over the years, Steve and Julie. And a lot of that is based on a wonderful team effort that we have. We have an executive management team comprised of five outstanding individuals that are all focused on continued successful organic growth. We have a number of different centralized departments with investment management, all the client facing wealth management advisors, we have a financial planning team, also a client service and ops team amongst our administrative staff. And it’s really been a collective effort from all of the 30 staff members in the firm that helped achieve growth rates in the mid-teens annually. Almost as far back as the eye can see. So we’ve essentially doubled our assets under management over the last, I’d say, six or seven years. We’re now north of 1.4 billion of AUM. And I’m very proud to say all that has been through organic growth.

I think another reason for some of the successes and recognitions that we’ve received has been through our high client retention rate. We’ve been very honored to maintain roughly a 99% client retention rate. Fortunately, very few clients leave the firm and I think that’s a testament to the exceptional service and fiduciary responsibility that we have for each and every client. We also have-

Steve Wershing:    
Yeah-

Chuck Bean:     
Go ahead, sorry.

Steve Wershing:       
Go ahead, I’m sorry. No, go ahead.

Chuck Bean:    
I think we have a very good innovative use of technology. We have some mobile friendly tools for our clients so they can log on to a client portal and check out their accounts on a daily basis or as often as they’d like. It is a secure vault where they can store things like tax returns, or estate planning documents, and look at their financial plans, and performance reports. And I think what truly separates us is the comprehensive wealth management offerings that we afford. We span across investment management, cash flow and financial planning, all different types of income tax planning, helping people secure retirement, assist with their philanthropy, estate planning, et cetera. So it’s really a whole list of comprehensive wealth management practice.

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