Are you able to develop your agency however need to make sure that you preserve the extent of service purchasers count on and worth from you? It might be time to take a extra strategic strategy to your consumer base. However the place do you begin?
Efficient consumer segmentation can improve your scaling efforts and assist your enterprise progress ambitions. To begin, we suggest 4 steps that will help you consider your consumer base, successfully categorize them, construct a devoted consumer service mannequin, and implement your technique.
Step 1: Analyze Your Ebook of Enterprise
With regards to analyzing your consumer base, you’ll be able to’t measure what you’ll be able to’t see. Shopper segmentation offers you clear route and perception into who your present purchasers are and what companies you’ll be able to present them to assist your enterprise scale.
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Assume when it comes to each quantitative standards (e.g., property underneath administration and income generated) and qualitative elements (e.g., stage of belief, coachability, and referral historical past). Take into account what you do for them; does everybody presently obtain the identical companies, equivalent to a monetary plan, an annual evaluate assembly, common outreach, and invites to consumer occasions? If the reply is sure, get able to shake issues up!
Step 2: Implement an ABSLN Segmentation Framework
After getting a greater understanding of your present purchasers, it is time to begin categorizing them. Commonwealth’s Enterprise Consulting group typically recommends a holistic segmentation technique referred to as the “ABSLN” technique.
ABSLN Segmentation at a Look

This technique identifies your prime purchasers as “A+,” “A,” or “B” primarily based on the income they generate on your agency. For instance, your high-net-worth (HNW) purchasers fall into the A+ class as they supply a worthwhile increase and improve of property. These purchasers have particular and complicated wants, requiring a better diploma of useful resource and time administration out of your agency.
Not like the quantitative categorization of the highest tiers, the underside tiers depend on qualitative standards. Purchasers in these segments are labeled “S,” “L,” or “N.”
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S/Strategic: People on this tier have the potential to turn out to be preferrred purchasers. Take into account younger, excessive earners with robust financial savings, enterprise house owners with illiquid wealth, or HENRYs (excessive earners, not wealthy but).
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L/Legacy: These purchasers might have a legacy relationship that justifies offering continued service—for instance, “A” purchasers’ kids, widows, or private pals.
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N/Non-ideal: These purchasers don’t match into every other segments. For them, you could possibly proceed providing a lowered stage of service, switch them to an affiliate advisor, or discontinue the connection.
ABSLN segmentation provides deeper perception into the sorts of purchasers presently in your e-book, which you’ll be able to then use to establish the varieties of companies you will ship to them.
ABSLN in motion
I labored with a Commonwealth-affiliated advisor who was questioning whether or not to rent a service advisor to handle the underside half of their e-book, as they had been feeling at capability with their time. Collectively, we used the ABSLN technique to section their purchasers, which revealed {that a} new rent would value greater than the income being managed and that many present purchasers fell into the “non-ideal” class. The advisor determined to cut back the companies being offered to that group, which freed up a few of their time.
Step 3: Mix the Energy of Segmentation with Service
As soon as you have completed the consumer segmentation train, you’ll be able to construct your consumer service mannequin, the place you will establish which companies you will ship to every section—and the way typically.
Use these questions to assist outline and information your service choices:
Your outcomes might begin to appear to be the next grids, which pair companies—the whole lot from funding administration to consumer occasions—with consumer tiers. Be sure you contemplate the overall variety of hours you will spend to ship service throughout every consumer class. If it would not align with the typical income earned from that class, you might want to regulate.
Step 4: Put Your Technique into Motion
You’ve got segmented your purchasers and created a service mannequin. Now, it is time to implement your technique by systematically evaluating each side of your enterprise and adjusting accordingly.
Listed below are some questions and instance situations to think about:
Shopper Segmentation: A Launchpad to Enterprise-Stage Progress
Implementing a thoughtfully deliberate consumer segmentation and repair mannequin is not simply good to have—it is a must-have for advisors aiming to succeed in enterprise-level success. By following the 4 essential steps we have outlined—analyzing your e-book of enterprise, implementing a consumer segmentation framework, combining segmentation with service, and placing your technique into motion—you are laying the groundwork for sustainable, scalable progress.
*As of 11/1/2024
