Clients no longer want an off-the-shelf advice experience they want to be part of creating it. Like children designing their own bear at Build-A-Bear Workshop, today’s clients want financial advice that feels personal, interactive, and emotionally connected. If you’re still delivering reports instead of moments, you may be missing the opportunity to turn clients into lifelong advocates.
Read more to discover how leading advisers are transforming ordinary advice into extraordinary experiences…..
Redefining the Client Experience: Lessons from Build-A-Bear
In a world of automation and algorithms, financial advisers need more than expertise to stand out, they need an experience strategy.
Think about Build-A-Bear Workshop. Children don’t go there just to buy a toy. They go to create one, choosing the bear, stuffing it, giving it a heartbeat, recording a message, and naming it. The bear itself isn’t what they cherish most; it’s the process of building it.
That’s what clients want from their financial adviser. They don’t simply want advice delivered; they want to build it with you. They want to feel understood, involved, and emotionally connected to their financial journey.
Research from eMoney shows that firms delivering an exceptional client experience enjoy 20 % higher assets under management, 25 % faster client acquisition, and 95 % retention. The numbers are clear, experience is now the differentiator.
MIT’s Dr Renée Gosline explains that advisers can act as “choice architects,” shaping decisions through design and empathy. Small nudges like showing progress visually, reframing discussions around goals rather than returns, or providing personalised video summaries make clients feel empowered, not overwhelmed.
So how can you bring the Build-A-Bear effect into your practice?
- Invite Clients to Co-Create. Use digital tools that let clients interact with their goals and see real-time scenarios. Co-creation builds ownership.
- Design Emotional Moments. Celebrate wins, send thank-yous, or acknowledge milestones moments that say, “You’re more than a number.”
- Blend Tech with Touch. Let technology handle automation so you can focus on connection, listening, storytelling, and care.
Delivering advice today is about more than outcomes; it’s about experience design. When clients participate in creating their financial future, they don’t just remember the numbers, they remember how it felt.
References:
- eMoney Advisor (2019). Heart of Advice Research Report. eMoney
- Gosline, R. R. (2024). “Competing on Customer Experience with Behavioral Science.” MIT Sloan School of Management
- Zakrzewski, A. et al. (2020).
