The back-to-school season presents a golden opportunity to check in with your clients, says Jasmin Bergeron, a Montreal-based public speaker and director of the MBA program in financial services at l’Université du Québec à Montréal.

“It’s a great idea for so many reasons,” says Bergeron. “It’s unexpected by clients and you are doing what you can to help nurture a healthy client/advisor relationship.”

Sending a focused, well-written email on significant occasions helps keep you present in the minds of your clients. Bergeron points out that many client surveys rate a lack of followup by their advisors as their No. 1 gripe.

Bergeron offers the following tips to help you craft a good back-to-school client email:

> Define your audience
Before beginning to assemble your client communiqué, it’s important that you narrow your audience.

For example, identify which of your clients have children. And remember that many education saving programs are initiated by grandparents.

> Keep it simple
The golden rule of email is to keep it short and to the point.

In this case, Bergeron says, keep the message to 300-400 words. Consider breaking up your topics into key bullet points or presenting them as a checklist for easy consumption.

> Identify your role
Your objective here is to illustrate to your clients how you can help them prepare for their children’s education.

Remind your clients, for example, about the merits of using instruments such as a registered education savings plan or a tax-free savings account as part of a saving strategy, says Julie Hauser, spokesperson for the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada in Ottawa.

You might also advise clients to look into scholarships or bursaries their children can apply for as a way to help fund their education.

Another option could be to compile a list of student-related tax credits, which apply to such expenses as transportation and textbook costs.

> Spread the word
Ask your clients to consider sharing your email with their friends, family and colleagues.

Include a one- or two-sentence “call to action” at the bottom of your email asking your clients to forward your email to their contacts or to share it with others via social media, Bergeron says.

Just be sure to check with your compliance department first.

For more on student tax credits, visit:
http://www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca/eng/consumers/lifeevents/secondeduc/budget/deductcredits-eng.asp

More on how you can help your clients fund their child’s post-secondary education, check out our exclusive web-series: Funding post-secondary education.