Using a well-designed “welcome” binder in your client intake process can pay dividends throughout the relationship, says Duncan MacPherson, co-founder and co-CEO of Pareto Systems Inc. in Kelowna, B.C. The binder serves as a reminder of the relationship your clients have with you. It will sit in their homes and serve as a resource throughout the year when you and your client are not in direct contact.

Your welcome binder process should contain four key elements:

1. “Live” introduction at an initial meeting
Explain to your client how the binder will help him or her organize the details of your relationship. You can use the analogy of a puzzle, MacPherson suggests: there are many pieces to the financial puzzle and your job is to put those pieces together.

The binder should contain tabs for the various pieces of the puzzle or areas of your client’s financial plan. Show them how the binder will be divided into areas for investment planning, insurance, estate planning, goals and other areas. Include a section for documents they’ll receive from other professionals such as their accountant and their lawyer.

Explain that you and your team will be personalizing the binder so it reflects your relationship. Once it has been updated with the proper information, you will send it to the client.

2. Printed introduction within the binder
Compose a short letter summarizing what you told the client about the binder in that meeting. Encourage him or her to bring the binder to every review meeting, as you will refer to it and update it with new documents at those meetings.

3. A full disclosure document listing your services
Your binder will include a list of the services you provide so that your clients will never have reason to question your value. When you add a new service, introduce it during a review meeting and provide an updated list.

4. A summary of your investment philosophy
When you and your client agreed to begin this relationship, you established that your investment philosophies are aligned. However, a constant reminder of this alignment through written documentation cannot hurt.

“It’s one thing to talk about this stuff,” MacPherson says. “But it’s not like [the client] is hanging onto every word you say.”

For example, your philosophy might be that you engage in a detailed discovery process and choose a course of investments that balances retirement needs with the immediate needs of your clients and their families, including funding for education, housing and insurance. Explain this philosophy clearly in the binder package.

Says MacPherson: “[A documented investment philosophy] creates a little bit more comfort and validation about the relationship.”

5. A letter of engagement
Your binder will also include a statement that details your engagement with your client and your team’s code of conduct. You may choose to specify how often your client can expect to hear from you during the year and the method of contact.

This is the first installment in a two-part series on the client intake process.

Next: Staying in touch once the relationship has been established.