Survey: good service makes
investors loyal
By IR Web Report Staff
Even when they are not specifically designed to
answer IR questions, surveys of investors provide
useful insight for investor relations communicators.
Take the the J.D. Power and Associates 2006
Full-Service Investor Satisfaction Study released
yesterday. It analyzes the key factors
that make investors loyal and satisfied
with full service brokerage firms.
One of the key findings from the survey, which
covered 5,000 investors, is that overall satisfaction
is driven not only by the advisor/broker, but
also by the support staff, particularly customer
service representatives.
Overall satisfaction levels decline
significantly when even one issue is encountered.
However, if an issue is resolved by only having
to work with one person, satisfaction levels
are higher.
"Highly satisfied and committed clients must
be viewed as an investment firm's most valued
asset," James Lohmann, senior director of investment
services research at J.D. Power and Associates,
said in a press
release.
"By efficiently and effectively handling customer
service issues, investment firms can increase
and maintain satisfaction among their clients,
which in the long run places a greater share
of liquid assets under management."
In fact, the study found that investors who
are highly committed to their full-service investment
firms generate 12 times more new investment
dollars per year compared to clients
with lower commitment.
They are 33 times less likely
to leave their primary investment firm
than are those with low commitment levels. They
are also nearly five times more likely
to recommend their firm.
Although this survey is focused on investors'
views of full-service brokerages, it still offers
useful insights for IR communications professionals.
The message seems to be that providing online
services for shareholders and being fast and
efficient with service enquiries can build shareholder
loyalty. Excellent service may also encourage
investors to add to their holdings
in the company and recommend the company
to friends and family.
One measure of how well your company is doing
in this regard is its score in the Service
dimension of the user experience evaluation
we include in your six
monthly reports.
Also relevant are your site's category
scores for contact information;
shareholder services and resources;
push technologies and navigation
and document formats.
We expect that service features on IR websites
will become increasingly important in the future.
In part, this is because new technologies like
corporate blogs are creating an expectation
that big companies should be more accessible
and responsive to their stakeholders.
Read our