The experience that you provide to your clients has never been more important to the health of your business than it is today. Lots of investors are still shaken from the market volatility of the past few years. Even many clients who stayed calm are uncertain about the state of the economy, the markets and their own financial futures. And plenty of them are asking themselves, "Is my current advisor the right advisor for me?"

We know that the answer in many cases is "no." As I've mentioned in previous columns, a 2008 study showed that four out of five affluent investors were dissatisfied with their advisors and were looking to make a change.

Of course, nowhere near 80% of those clients actually jumped ship in the past two years. For that, many advisors can thank inertia; it's not because clients suddenly became much happier with their advisors.

THE WOW FORMULA

But it's foolish to bank on such complacency. Starting now, you need to delight your clients if you want to keep their business and maintain their loyalty going forward.

Providing what we call wow service is about giving each client a unique and memorable experience-one that differentiates you and your practice in a way that clients find unforgettable and competitors find hard to match. By delivering a consistent, high-quality experience at every point of contact, you will truly wow your clients, which will mean great things for your business.

For example, amazing service creates highly satisfied and loyal clients. That means less client (and employee) turnover and fewer hours you need to spend on marketing and prospecting. Strong client loyalty also means more assets for you to manage.

Consider that clients identified as loyal clients in our whitepaper, Building Client Loyalty: The Case for a Wealth Management Solution, gave their primary financial advisors $376,000 in additional assets on average over a 12-month period. By contrast, the clients who were just moderately satisfied with their advisors provided only $17,000 in additional assets.

The same situation is true for referrals. Loyal clients gave their advisors 11.8 referrals on average-versus just 0.1 referrals given by the moderately satisfied clients, according to research cited in Breaking Through: Building a World-Class Wealth Management Business.

So what can you do to truly delight your clients and wow them in the current environment? Here are four steps that advisors in our coaching program have taken in recent years that are having a big impact on client satisfaction and loyalty.

REDISCOVER CLIENTS

Think you know everything you need to about longtime clients' situations? Feel confident that they're happy with your service offering? Don't be so sure given the huge changes we've all experienced in recent years.

In these times you must play good defense by going the extra mile to protect your client relationships, and you must go on the offensive to guarantee their satisfaction while possibly gaining additional assets to manage. The best approach is to conduct rediscovery meetings with every client you value and want to keep on board.

Schedule a time for them to come in and talk with you about the biggest concerns, needs, goals and values they have today in the wake of the market turmoil. Ask them how those issues have changed or not changed from the last time you discussed them. Armed with up-to-date information about where clients are now and where they want to go, you can do a better job helping them close the gap.

The value of doing such rediscovery is clear: You will reconnect with your clients by showing them that you are highly focused on their well-being and by reassuring them that you want to know them and their concerns on a deeper level. They will be reminded that you are the best advisor for them, no matter what the economic circumstances.

So don't worry, as some advisors do at first, about asking longtime clients to go through this process. Chances are, they'll thank you-and even reward you with new assets and new referrals-for taking the time.

TEAM UP WITH EXPERTS

The needs of clients-especially affluent ones-become more complex with each passing year. That complexity has really ramped up as investors try to navigate their way through new legislation and uncertainty about a wide variety of taxes. They will look to you more than ever for help in managing their entire financial lives-not just investments but also wealth-transfer planning, wealth protection and charitable gifting.