Do you communicate regularly with your clients? If not, you’d better start before it’s too late.

Various surveys have indicated that the No. 1 reason why clients leave their financial advisors is because they don’t hear from their advisors often enough. And if you aren’t communicating with your clients, there’s a good chance that another advisor is.

Consider the quality and frequency of your client communications, says Rosemary Smyth, a Victoria-based business coach for financial advisors. How you communicate with your clients is especially important, considering the current shift to discretionary and fee-based service.

“With discretionary service,” Smyth says, “there isn’t an automatic need to discuss trades. And you can no longer count on talking to clients regularly as their bonds come due.”

If you provide service with transactional trading, Smyth says, the switch to discretionary service — or fee-only service — could leave clients wondering what they’re getting for the fees they pay.

“Advisors need a communication strategy,” Smyth says, “because it allows clients to see that you’re managing their accounts.”

Smyth offers the following tips for managing client communications:

1. Use all media
In addition to client meetings, seminars and lunches, says Sara Gilbert, founder and business consultant with Strategist Business Development in Montreal, your communications strategy should include your website, a regular newsletter and social media, specifically LinkedIn,

“Your plan doesn’t have to be elaborate,” Gilbert says, “but it must be consistent.”

Every medium has an “optimal point” or minimum frequency, Gilbert says. “For a newsletter it’s monthly. After 30 days people forget you.”

A blog’s optimal point is weekly, which can be difficult to fulfill for many advisors. A professional writer can help you polish your blog posts.

LinkedIn can reach a large number of people in as little as 15 minutes a day. You can comment or “like” other people’s posts, start and join discussions and post one or two articles a week. “But no more,” Gilbert says.

2. Chart your strategy
Create a 12-month calendar that shows your communications plans for the coming year. A calendar will remind you to broach topics throughout the year when appropriate, such as RRSPs in January and tax tips in April. It will also help you identify gaps in your strategy.

The key, says Smyth, is to add value. “Don’t communicate for its own sake. Make it relevant, valuable and timely. And customize communication as much as possible.”

3. What’s the frequency?
How often you touch base, Smyth says, depends on the individual client.

“Ask your clients how often they want to hear from you,” she says. “Some people like to be in touch once or twice a month; for others, that’s too often.”

April-Lynn Levitt, a coach with the Personal Coach in Oakville, Ont. suggests you identify your top- and mid-tier clients and customize communication plans for them. “It’s appropriate to communicate more frequently with your ‘growth’ or top clients,” she says.

4. Seek feedback
Feedback enables you to better tailor your communications to the individual.

“During quarterly meetings or via surveys,” Smyth says, “ask clients what they like and dislike about your communications. Some clients are phone-oriented while others prefer email. Ask what content interests them and what they want to see more of. The key is to focus on ways of solving their problems.”