The 6 U’s Of Exceptional Service

When we buy products or pay for services we expect the best. When it comes to your money manager how do you know he/she is constantly striving to deliver the best for you, namely, value well in excess of cost? Are you getting everything you expect and deserve? Consider these six service situations as a test.

Uncompromising standards

Here’s how we look at service at Osbon Capital. All client information, communication, strategy, feedback, documentation, conversation, design, delivery, execution and verification must meet one or more of our ‘U’ standards. If it does, it stays, if it doesn’t it goes. Here’s our checklist with recent real life examples (all names are changed, of course):

1. Urgent– “Peter, we’ve coordinated with your accountant to make sure he has all your investment tax information for your October 15^th 1041 trust income tax return.”
2. Unique– “Kerry, you can see your change in allocation over time and in color on your Osbon portal; it’s a movie of how changes have occurred in your allocation either directly by us or by changes in market values.”
3. Useful– “Jim, we’ve just captured $50k in losses to offset gains and therefore reduce your taxes by $15k with no change in your allocation.”
4. Ultra-specific– “Barbara, as we discussed, we monitor your account to make sure that there is always a cash balance of $30K available for withdrawal, and we just arranged for that $22k college tuition payment to be delivered to Brown University the day before your son arrives.”
5. User-friendly– “Chuck, when you log into your Osbon Portal via OsbonCapital.com you will see performance and other metrics on all of your accounts including the ones not with Osbon Capital.”
6. Unbiased– “Allan, when markets are as volatile as they have been recently, you can see exactly what it means for you through your account portal – on any day, no need to wait until quarter end. If you have any questions about what’s going on, just give us a call for a completely candid and unbiased discussion.”

Always raise your expectations

When you look closely at what you are receiving versus what you expect, it’s pretty easy to see if your advisor is tuned into your needs. If he/she can’t deliver on these six U’s or your other specific expectations, it’s time to consider other options.

John Osbon – josbon@osboncapital.com