When was the last time you felt “at home” in a completely new environment? What about this experience – the people you encountered or the service you received –made you feel truly welcomed?

This happened to me last week at my daughter’s college orientation, a day filled with big emotions, as any survivor of this experience well knows. The faculty and students who welcomed us took the angst of the unknown out of this new situation by doing a great job with onboarding. They began by conveying their desire to make this new experience a positive one for students and parents alike and led us through a day that outlined their philosophy and curriculum (service offering), definition of a successful partnership, rules of engagement (communication and technology), calendar for the year, and strategies for supporting students on this journey.  We drove home feeling less anxious and more excited because we were given a clear picture of what to expect and how to engage.  

Every new client of your office is a bit like an incoming freshman. How do you welcome them to the office?

This is a question that the FOX Client Experience Council has pondered since its start in 2015. This Council group is a group of up to 20 dedicated family office and multi-family office executives who gather in-person twice each year to share experiences and resources with the collective goal of delivering a state-of-the-art client experience for every family they serve. Following are three key components of a best practice onboarding process that have been discussed by this council:

• Discovery meeting to understand client needs, goals, and “hot buttons” – the first meeting with a new client is your opportunity to collect the information you need to service them properly, including an understanding of each client household’s structure and decision-making process, investment, business  and philanthropic goals, risk tolerance, estate plans, etc. This is the time to collect and review key documents such as tax returns, investment reports, and legal documents. Most importantly, this is your opportunity to set the tone for your relationship and begin to build trust by introducing the team and inviting clients to share their goals for the relationship and talk about what success looks like for them.

• Client Service Agreement – written service agreements document the responsibilities of both parties in the relationship. This agreement outlines what the client can expect from the office and what the office staff, in return, can ask of the client. A typical table of contents for this agreement may include:
  • Family Office History and Mission
  • Definition of Involved Parties (e.g. “Client household is defined as…”)
  • Detailed Description of Service Offering
  • Documentation of Relationships with External Service Providers
  • Roles and Responsibilities of Clients and Staff
  • Outline of Fiduciary Responsibility
  • Conflict of Interest Policy
  • Means and Frequency of Communication
  • Technology  Protocols (website, financial reporting)
  • Confidentiality/Privacy Policy
  • Fee Schedule

• Client Service Plan/Calendar –the client service plan outlines the communication plan for the year including standard meetings (e.g. investment strategy and performance reviews, board and committee meetings, foundation meetings, the annual family meeting), scope of work/annual project plan, and other pertinent family office activities. The following is an excellent example of a first year service plan from Threshold Group.

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Like life, client relationships are ever-changing, so it is important to revisit these steps as needed.

For those of you who don’t currently have an onboarding process or haven’t revisited it in a while, I encourage you to think about it from the perspective of an incoming freshman. Do your new clients leave their first interaction with the office feeling welcomed and “at home”?