Best Financial Services

This report is consistent with my signed Academic Integrity Form on file with the instructor. Paul Han 100269111
Madina Sediqi 100241913
Roshini Wevita 100285464
Leo Liang 100298682

Team 3

January 21, 2015

Definition of Success:
For Best Financial to maintain long term customer relationships with their most valued customers as well as exceed revenues of $332,153 from fiscal 2007, Best needs to strive to solve the following problems:

Critical Issues:
1. How to manage to exceed the maximum capacity of servicing more than 600 clients so that Linda Best can keep her current schedule.
2. How to make their products and services comparable to competitors to retain their high-valued clients in order to maximize their revenue in 2008.
3. How to redefine marketing plan for client retention and to attract a new profitable segment Analysis
Best Financials’ Maximum Client Capacity
Linda Best has been in the financial industry for 15 years and for seven of those years running Best Financial with the help of only two employees, her associate Mary Thompson and receptionist Jody St.Pierre. Linda has now reached a point in her life where her most important priority is spending time with her family. Reaching the age of 45, Linda’s priority of having more family time and less workload and goal of retiring in 10 years at the age of 55 is expected. See Exhibit 1 for social-cultural factors that are at play. So, having a healthy work-life balance meant that she could not work extra hours, thus was unable to handle more than 600 clients on her own. Linda Best does have some help, her full time associate Mary Thompson is a great asset because she has 26 years of experience in the financial industry and has expertise in Canadian and U.S income tax and mutual funds. But, even with Mary Thompson on board her team, two employees is just not enough to for Linda Best to expect revenue growth of $332,153 and over, at the same time for her to work less and have more family and leisure time. See Exhibit 3 for SWOT outlining the company’s Strengths and Weaknesses related to this issue.

Client Retention
Clients are the backbone of any organization, therefore it is critical for Best Financial Services to retain the existing customer base. The competitive financial industry analysis is shown in Exhibit 2. Best Financial Services is operated in a market that has high rivalry among the existing competitors. Strong customer relationships, reputation, loyalty, good word of mouth are some of the critical factors that needed in the financial industry. Best Financial lacks some of these factors and the national image in the financial industry in Sarnia that led Gerald Young to move its financial needs to Scotiabank. Therefore it affects the sales revenue in the current period as Linda was too dependent on her top clients. Client retention is critical to Linda as there is a higher chance of more clients leaving the Best Financial as Gerald Young has already recommended some of his family and friends to Best Financial in the past.

Marketing plan
Best Financial is lacking of an effective marketing plan to attract profitable clients for them. First of all, by the fact that 57.33% of their clients holding assets less than $20,000 and this become one of their biggest weaknesses. Also, Best Financial has already reached their maximum capacity of 600 clients. In other words, they are not targeting on the profitable clients and the marketing plan they are using so far is not effective. Secondly, when compares Best Financial to national banking, their image is considered very weak. They are in need of building up their professional image to clients so that their clients could be more satisfied and to increase the confidence for new clients. Last but not least, lost one of their top clients, Gerald Young, Best Financial has to fill the blank which means they need to attract another client to cap. In short, to