New research has revealed many financial advisers fail to respond effectively to enquiries from potential clients, leading to disappointed consumers and reputational damage, according to new research by DSL.
The newly created DSL AdviserResponse Benchmark found that nearly a quarter of advice firms failed to respond to a new enquiry.
The research, carried out in January and May 2024 with 170 advice firms, revealed the following key findings:
• 23% of firms failed to respond to the enquiry in January, in May 20% didn’t reply
• 19 firms failed to respond to either enquiry
• The average response time, where one was received, was 23 hours in January, falling to 18 in May, and only 15% of firms responded within an hour.
DSL has used the data to create their Benchmark using an algorithm that scored firms out of 100 based on the speed and quality of their response, as well as persistence.
The top firm, Ellis Bates, scored 87/100. The average score, which includes firms that failed to respond to enquiries was 34/100 in January, rising to 37 in May. When the firms who failed to respond to enquiries were excluded the average scores rose to 45/100 and 46 in January and May respectively.
The benchmark shows that firms who responded achieved the highest scores for speed (28/40), but fell away when it came to the quality of their response (15/30) and persistence (3/30).
The Benchmark is the creation of DSL Founder, Daniel Olley, who said: “We wanted to understand how effective advice firms are at following up with new enquiries. So we’ve created the DSL AdviserResponse Benchmark.”
“Firms must respond quickly and effectively to new enquiries and many do. However, others are letting opportunities slip through their fingers because their response is slow, ineffective or they aren’t persistent enough, giving up after only one attempt to contact the potential client.”
Olley further said: “Firms that fail to respond to enquiries lose potential revenue and will see a lower return on investment from their marketing, but the ramifications are wider. Failing to respond to enquiries leaves consumers with a negative impression, which they might share with people they know. The reputational damage could also extend to the online world if the consumer chooses to leave a negative review on Google or elsewhere.”
The methodology involved 170 advice firms from the New Model Adviser and FT Adviser Top 100s selected to be mystery-shopped
with enquiries placed through the advisers’ websites (or emailed if no web form was available).
All enquiries were placed to allow at least 48 hours before the weekend and responses measured over the following five working days.
A score out of 100 was generated using an algorithm rewarding speed, quality and persistence of response.
Founded in 2019, DSL works exclusively with the UK financial services sector, providing a range of outsourced telephony services.
