Amid its widely reported efforts to acquire financial advisory firms, Towry also made the headlines recently when it announced plans to create a business unit dedicated to client experience. The move – which chief executive Andrew Fisher described as an important step to continue delivering “excellence” – saw Linda Payne join the executive committee of the national advisory firm. She leads the new department, which has 15 staff.
Ms Payne said she believed strongly that outstanding client service is “imperative” to any successful business. She was eager to ensure that her current employer shared her longstanding passion for service improvement. Since joining Towry six years ago she has been involved in a number of projects, and spent the past year leading the firm’s client experience delivery programme through its experimental phase – an experience that proved fruitful enough to transform it into a permanent fixture.
Eyebrows were raised when plans for the new department were announced, but its new leader said its creation did not stem from inefficiencies but rather from a desire to improve what was already a quality service. She said: “No issue caused this. This is simply our way of making more improvements.
“Our clients are satisfied, but we believe there is always room for improvement. The overall purpose of the team is to develop and improve client experience by looking at all elements of our service and how it can be improved. It will be a continuous programme that involves listening to what clients are telling us. It is very much about making sure we understand what our clients want.”
Whereas many other big advisory firms have faced a backlash from clients over proposed moves to restricted advice models, Ms Payne says Towry’s transition was straightforward: all clients were consulted about the changes beforehand and informed that the definition change would not affect what was essentially the same type of advice service.
She said: “We are classed as restricted but have not changed our approach post-RDR and there has been no adverse reaction. Our clients are very satisfied and we have very personal relationships with them. We had to explain what it meant but fundamentally that we would continue to do what we did before. That is where our relationship is strong. When the restricted label started being used we spoke to our clients straight away.”
Ms Payne said that with a generally satisfied clientele, the firm has made few changes over the past year, other than to enhance its communication strategies. That particular move, she said, did not require the medium to be changed but instead was to improve what was already a good though not perfect system.
According to Ms Payne, the most important factor behind identifying improvements and paying attention to feedback was the opportunity to enhance an already good service – she said perfection must always be striven for, even when things look good. Ms Payne added that clients always appreciate a company displaying its intentions to listen and understand their every concern.
She added: “It is often about understanding exactly what the input is. Every piece of feedback is valuable and we obtain it in a number of ways. We do a number of surveys and listen to everything clients tell us. Recently we have listened to feedback about our client communication and made some enhancements, which have been very well received. Clients like being listened to.”
Listening and understanding clients is in Ms Payne’s nature, particularly after her years working in general insurance. Before joining Towry she worked in process improvement at Norwich Union (now Aviva), although even more challenging was the role she held at Zurich, where she was responsible for helping clients resolve claims as quickly as possible.
Ms Payne said such a responsibility “was never easy” but helped her better understand how to keep clients in difficult situations happy, while protecting the reputation of her employer. In today’s digital era, she said keeping the consumer satisfied has become even more demanding.
She added: “Clients have access to a lot more information now and compare organisations in different ways – we must understand these new expectations. As our clients’ expectations and needs change, we need to be in tune. This is an ongoing thing and involves engaging with our team across the organisation.”
But despite this type of role being described as a crucial one for Towry, Ms Payne said the model might not work at other advisory firms. She said a standard approach could never be introduced across the industry as each firm has diverse types of client bases with very different demands.
She said: “There is no standard approach to enhancing client experience. It may not be the best path for other firms, but we believe it is the best path for us.”
Daniel Liberto is features writer at Financial Adviser
Ms Payne’s career ladder
2008-present
Head of client experience (2014), head of client experience delivery (2013-2014), head of client services (2010-2012), regional manager, client services (2008-2010), Towry
2005-2008
Senior business process design and analysis manager, senior project manager, Norwich Union
1999-2005
Technical claims manager, claims manager, Zurich Commercial
1998-1999
Billing and invoicing manager, Green Flag
1987-1998
Continuous improvement project manager, project analyst, commercial claims manager, claims team leader, technical claims handler, claims handler, Norwich Union
