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Effective asset management CX strategies
The minority of firms with a CX strategy dominate
The firms that dominate the leader board of overall CX maturity are also the ~30% of firms that have clearly-defined asset management CX strategies. We take this as confirmation that sustaining a superior CX requires an effective strategy.
These companies are set-up to meet the ‘wants’ of different types of clients, they allocate budget and resources accordingly, and they evolve and re-align as their clients ‘wants’ change.
The problem with the industry status quo is that the remaining ~70% of firms have no clear CX strategy. 1,2
Without vision and direction for the experience they wish to deliver, these firms reported common obstacles, such as not following segmentation models, ‘customisation-as-standard’, and receiving no benefit from their CX monitoring.
Common effects of these problems were resource and budget inconsistencies, and the activities of different teams feeling reactive and tactical.
This research project helps firms solve the problem
To help solve this problem, Accomplish has developed a guide for members of the CX Forum on how to develop effective asset management CX strategies.
The guide breaks-down and explains the characteristics of an effective CX strategy and provides a model of common CX ‘zones’ to help firms diagnose their current situation.
This project also helps senior managers perform an honest assessment of what they can achieve in their first few moves from their particular starting point. This is important because if, at the outset, leaders ‘bite of more than they can chew’ and their initiative fails as a result, their colleagues may misconstrue this as a failure of CX, when it may actually relate to unrealistic scoping.
The purpose of these diagnoses is to ensure leaders match their strategies to their situations.
This analysis identified three common situations that firms face, driven by two factors: the level of maturity of their CX, and their overall alignment with their clients ‘wants’.
To kick-start firms’ responses, we outline three generic asset management CX strategies – one for each situation. The strategies aim to balance the likely challenges and opportunities against the necessary tasks.
Lastly, we know from our research into Achieving Strategic Change that a good start is pivotal for any strategic initiative, so we outline how firms can incorporate these lessons within the context of a CX initiative.
How to use this guide
We recommend firms use this guide in conjunction with our related research into how asset managers can use KXIs to measure CX.
This is because once you can measure and make sense of your CX, your metrics may highlight areas you would like to improve. When this happens, you will be able to use that data to diagnose your situation, to identify the generic asset management CX strategy that matches your situation, and to tailor it to your specific needs.
Next step: the CX Touchpoint Benchmark
This project also strengthened our opinion that Accomplish’s next research project should design a benchmark that measures an asset manager’s alignment with its clients ‘wants’.
This is because the two factors that indicate a firm’s situation are the level of maturity of its CX, (which we already measure through the CX Maturity Benchmark and its overall alignment with its clients ‘wants’.
Our intention, therefore, for the next research project is to design a CX Touchpoint Benchmark that will assess the effect a firm has on its clients. The benchmark will use the common language of the CX Maturity Benchmark, which will give member firms the ‘flip side of the coin’:
- On one side, the CX Maturity Benchmark measures an asset manager’s internal CX capability
- On the flip side, the CX Touchpoint Benchmark will enable asset managers to validate their alignment with their clients ‘wants’.
We are looking forward to embarking on this project next.
1. Accomplish, March 2020. CX Maturity Benchmark findings.
2. Accomplish, June 2019. ‘Client experience has become THE differentiator’.]
