Client Feedback: "You're Always a Phone Call Away"

"You're Always a Phone Call Away"

What I Learned from Asking My Clients Two Simple Question

A couple weeks ago, I sent out a two-question survey to all my clients. Nothing fancy — just a quick pulse check.

1. On a scale from 1 to 5 stars, how are we doing?

2. If there was one thing we could do to get closer to a 5, what would it be?

It was a simple idea: find out what’s working, and more importantly, what’s almost working.

The results? Genuinely encouraging. Most responses were 5 stars, with a few 4s sprinkled in. Zero 3s, 2s, or 1s — which, if I’m being honest, is a false narritive - if people weren't genuinely happy, they probably would not be filling out the survey and/or are no longer clients.

The results were pretty good, but 'pretty good' isn't the goal. It’s to figure out how to actually get to 5 stars — for everyone.

The Good: Accessible, Friendly, and Actually Helpful

The most consistent feedback — and I loved seeing this — was around availability and responsiveness.

“You’re always accessible.”

“You make things easy to understand.”

“You don’t rush me.”

“You’re patient when I have questions.”

“It’s easy to book time with you.”

 

I LOVED reading these; it is the kind of praise that means the most to me.

Being around when life happens can be the biggest value that I add to my clients lives. 

And for the record — I’m going to keep doing all of that, I am ALWAYS around when you need me!

The Feedback: Communication Is Great... But Can Be Better

Now here’s where it gets interesting. Nearly all the suggestions and opportunities for improvement pointed back to communication. Not because it’s bad — people were actually complimentary about it — but because there’s still room to improve.

Some people wanted:

• A monthly or quarterly one-pager that summarizes key info

• Better visibility into RIF withdrawals — when they’re coming, how much, and what to expect

• More proactive updates around their investments

• Regular, predictable check-ins

Fair points. It tells me that while we’re doing well on the human side — showing up, being responsive, being thoughtful — we need more systems to back that up.

So here’s what I’m committing to:

• Monthly reports: It is not sustainable, nor what I would recommend, for us to send every client a monthly report on their investments; but for those that reallllly want it, we can - and will.

• A spring and fall review opportunity for every client who wants one. Like clockwork. No pressure, just an option. As you know, and the feedback generally stated, we are around whenever you need us - if you need to book a meeting before a big decision, we are around.  The spring and fall reviews can be considered a check-up - once a year is probably enough, but if you want to book both - please do.  I have structured the meetings to be efficient; the first round of these in the spring went extremely well.

• Annual RIF withdrawal summaries in January, starting in 2026 — quick emails with amounts, timing, and clarity. RIFs are complicated, change every year - all of this can be solved in the first two weeks of January with a 100-word or less email. Easy solution - we are on it.

• Continued investment in the Kinsted client portal, which is getting better by the month (and I’ve tested the beta — it’s good). They are about to launch a new client portal that has more timely information, better capability to generate reports yourselves, and the ability to download data into excel.  I am preparing for the storm of the transition - all technology takes time and patience to implement, but I applaud the Kinsted team for the diligence in their process, taking their time and not rushing it. Stay tuned.

That said, I’m not going to start booking quarterly meetings for the sake of checking a box. The whole reason you work with Lantern Wealth — and with Kinsted Wealth as your discretionary manager — is so that you don’t have to worry about the day-to-day.

Your portfolio is being managed actively. Changes are being made in real-time. There are no 'opportunities' to take advantage of, nor are there pitfalls to be aware of - when the team at Kinsted sees either, they act on it immediately.

Meeting with your mutual fund advisor (i.e. me, not that long ago!) to get their opinion on Trump, the election, or Chinese interference makes for good coffee talk, but is hardly helpful in providing you with the best investment experience. 

You may have noticed that whenever I am asked about my opinion on the markets, my default answer is, 'I have no idea.' That's not because I'm lazy, it is because I know that my money, my energy, and my time is better invested caring about the other things - I know that Kinsted has everything under control.

I'm more worried about where you are going on vacation next year (and which account is going to finance it), where you are going to contribute your latest bonus to, or adding your newest family member to your RESP account.

I also want to make this easy for you. I want to be your one point of contact that you can call, email or text and know that stuff gets done as soon as it is possible.  

Your life is not made better by my opinion of Mark Carney; the internet is full of market updates and subjective opinions. I choose to be available to you instead of adding my voice to a sea of outrage.

What’s Working: The Newsletter, and a Bit of Humour

The feedback on the SBT newsletter (Story, Blog, Thought) was a big win! So many of you said it’s become something you actually look forward to.

The whole point was to give you a quick, easy way to stay in the loop — to learn something, reflect on something, and maybe laugh at something along the way. It's working.

That said, after 100+ stories, I may tweak the format in the coming months. The fact is, I'm running out of things to talk about on a weekly basis.  I have more 'thoughts' than I know what to do with, but the reality is that Kinsted doesn’t have 85 new investments every year. I’d rather send something great than something forced. You’ll still hear from me weekly, but we may tighten it up to keep it fresh and relevant.

I'm toying with the idea of moving it to one story per week. The story could be about Kinsted one week and a personal learning or example the next.  We will see.  I have a business coach who offered some perspective on this, she ever so wisely said, 'if it doesn't work, you can always go back.'

Final Thoughts: Progress, Not Perfection

What I learned from the survey is this: we’re on the right path. We may never get to 'perfect', but we won't know if we are getting better if we don't have something to measure against. Thank you to all who spent their time providing feedback - you are appreciated.

We will keep building the systems, keep improving the reporting, keep offering real planning — not just investment talk.

We will keep doing it all in a way that’s approachable, consumable, honest, and doesn't suck.

If you ever feel like something’s unclear or could be better — just say so.

I’m always a phone call away.

PS — to the client (whom will remain nameless) who chirped me for my sports teams not making it out of the first round of the playoffs: your accounts are being liquidated as we speak and transferred to the 'financial advisor' at your local bank branch.

Kidding. Sort of...