CUSTOMER SERVICE…REALLY?

I have always taken pride in providing customer service.  I have been told I am anal and a bit of a perfectionist. I know how I want to be treated and I expect the same for my clients and friends. That same thought process is true for Virtus Wealth Management, or I would not be one of the owners.

Here at Virtus Wealth Management we are an independent financial advisory firm, a fiduciary…meaning we are held to the higher standard of putting our client’s best interest first. To me, I really don’t need a regulatory agency telling me to put my client’s interest first.

So, customer service, a major component of what my firm and I do, is now becoming a thing of the past. I wanted, perhaps feeling compelled, to share my opinions and experiences with what I have seen happening over the last several years.  Perhaps you may have experienced much the same in your daily life.

When I started in this business, and really, up until maybe the last 10-15 years, when I needed to provide service for a client with the many companies we do business with, I knew the people I needed to talk to, and they knew me. They also knew what I was asking for and what my client needed. The service was completed promptly and in most all cases with a simple, one on one, phone call.

Well, customer service started to move more and more to computers and the internet. Gradually, I no longer have individuals that I know and can talk to. When I did get a person to talk to, they were not trained (I said these were my opinions) to know the client needs and what I, or my staff, were requesting. So, the individual companies were still trying to provide service, but it was lacking.

Next, we find many of these companies have decided to outsource their servicing to an outside entity. The people we talk to do not know the products or assets we are requiring service for, so we have to educate through the process. Once we do that, we are then told, in some cases, it will take 5 to 10 business days to provide. All this used to be completed with a phone call.  In addition, these outsourced companies, now outsource the answering to another entity, and in many cases, we have difficulty understanding them, which adds to the difficulty.  And, in some cases, when we call, we are told they are not taking any phone calls. Wow! That is really customer service!

There are other ways to communicate, i.e., email and chat.  With emails, the question is…did they receive it and will they respond, and if so when.  So, I chat, which does come up immediately. They want to know all about me and what my question is.  I ask the question or express what my client needs, and, they answer with their own question. If I do not answer as prompt as they want, the chat closes and I would have to start all over.

Why am I writing this?  Yes, it allowed me to vent and perhaps feel better getting it off my chest. But, I really felt the need to share with our clients and friends, that we are committed to providing the best customer service possible, and when it doesn’t happen as promptly as you expect, please understand, we are going to do everything we can to get it done. But, hey, artificial intelligence (AI) is coming.  God help us!