The use of the net promoter score, a metric for measuring whether clients would recommend the institution concerned to friends and family, is growing across private banking and wealth management.
So, chums, this quick snapshot of the NPS across a number of firms shows a wide range of results.
In fact, the industry average is a not-very-impressive 46 compared with the best possible score of 100.
The NPS approach is not infallible – a bank can potential “massage” its own score so an assessment by a third-party researcher is preferable, critics say.
None the less, the NPS, introduced by Bain & Co ten years ago, does provide a rough guideline how firms are successfully generating loyalty and new business with their clientele.
Some pals I questioned for this data warned that while the metric is a useful tool, it is by no means a gold standard for client perceptions.
For example, the timing of the NPS scoring check can make a big difference.
“You get much higher scores from customers with recent interactions as usually they have been handled well. But for clients that haven’t heard from their adviser for a while, those scores are usually much lower,” one said.
One-off episodic surveys are almost a waste of time as it’s just a snapshot, another bank says. “What you need is regular surveys from an unbiased data sample i.e. not only those with very recent interactions.”
Nonetheless, here’s how my little survey shapes up so far, based on scores between the wooden spoon of zero and top-of-the class near the maximum 100:
St James’s Place—94
SJP appears to lead the NPS honours, explaining why the firm and its partnership network continue to generate such amazing client loyalty despite fees which rivals claim can really gouge the customer.
SJP, which last did a client survey two years ago, says that this indicates that overall client satisfaction also remains high; 89 percent of clients say they are either satisfied or very satisfied with the overall relationship. When asked to describe the SJP proposition in terms of value for money, 96 percent of the clients who responded, said ‘reasonable, good or excellent’.
Infuriating to some rivals, I know; but these are the reported SJP numbers.
Quilter—92
A well-earned place for Quilter. Overall asset retention for the group - a measure of the ability to delivery good outcomes and retain customers - increased to 92 percent in 2020 from 88 percent the previous year, driven mainly by improvements in the Quilter Investment Platform, it notes.
Coutts & Co—Undisclosed
Coutts doesn’t give a figure for its NPS, although it does say its score is “market leading.” Regular monthly client satisfaction surveys have consistently been in the high 80’s and low 90’s.
JM Finn—70
With an NPS of 70, JM Finn proclaims that it far outstrips the industry average and some of our leading competitors, “something that we are incredibly proud of”.
Barclays Group—70
The bank doesn’t say what its wealth and private banking divisions’ score is. At group level, as it rolls out new automated multichannel customer processes 88 percent faster, and it increased its customer satisfaction around automated, multichannel services from a negative NPS up to 70.
Charles Stanley—72
After a customer survey covering a cross-section of 53,000 of its private clients, it received a score of 72 from those “likely” to recommend it.
It also found that 88 percent of clients who responded to are satisfied with Charles Stanley overall; 86 percent are satisfied with their primary contact, their Investment Manager, Financial Planner or Client Relationship Manager.
C Hoare—70
No surprise to see high scores for Hoare’s Bank with an NSP of 70 and 71 for customer satisfaction, respectively.
While the bank has traditionally had a very loyal client base, it has also been working hard on reinforcing better links with clientele. For example, in the past year the number of relationship manager face to face meetings with clients has risen by 38 percent.
Close Brothers—72*
*For savings.
Brown Shipley—60
A respectable result for this UK subsidiary of Luxembourg’s Quintet Group, especially as it is one of the smaller UK banks with about £9 billion of assets under management.
Rathbones—55
Client advocacy for its service has always been very positive, demonstrated by its NPS, Rathbones notes.
Brewin Dolphin—51
This discretionary heavyweight is making NPS and overall client satisfaction core KPIs for future performance.
Pip pip
