How do you drive extreme client loyalty? How do you buildrelationship capital? And, most important of all, how do you dothat routinely?

“Client acquisition always tends to be the shiny thing. It'ssexy, it's cool,” observes industry consultant Stephanie Bogan.“Sustaining not so much. Yet, you have to feed and water or you'relosing relationship capital.”

Bogan looks at the client relationship as a series of depositsand withdrawals. Lots of deposits are made early on but once aprospect signs up, many advisors back off. And that, says Bogan,represents a withdrawal.

“Everything has the potential to be a withdrawal. Watching thenews and hearing experts disagree about the markets is awithdrawal. When I hear that, is there a withdrawal in myconfidence? Absolutely. All of these things are happening in theclient psyche that these advisors never contemplate,” she adds.“The only way to counter withdrawals is to make deposits.”

Here are ways, big and small, to make those deposits into yourvalued client relationships:

1. Hire a clientologist

Who is the person on your team who is naturally good atconnecting with clients like nobody else can? “This is a departurefor us in financial services. This is right brain. It's aboutcreativity and innovation,” says John Evans Jr., executive directorof Janus Labs. “Who can come up with the best ideas to delightclients consistently? That's your chief clientologist.”

The clientologist could be a lead advisor, a client servicesspecialist, even a spouse. “This is not rocket science but it canbe brilliant. If real estate is all about location, location,location, driving deep client loyalty and creating interpersonalalpha is all about information, information, information,” henotes.

[Related: 7 ways you can promote socialreferrals]

How does it work? All information about the top 10% of clientsflows to the clientologist, who hosts a weekly meeting to talkideas. “It's the discussion among team members when the best ideasbubble up,” Evans says. “It's a race for the best ideas to connectemotionally and meaningfully with clients.”

At spring training in Florida last year, an advisor Evans knowstook a prospect from Philadelphia to a Phillies game. Theclientologist on his team had arranged not only great seats for thepair but for the prospect to throw out the first pitch.

“Success is not who you know but who knows you and what they aresaying about you when you're not in the room,” says Evans. “Isthere anybody on planet Earth that that client is not telling thatstory to?”

2. Foster collaboration

Many advisors talk collaboration, but they don't practice it.Yet when it's clicking, the client is so much better served,according to Melissa Mitchell-Blitch, who heads Eredita, aconsulting firm in Charleston, South Carolina.

“Most advisors do not collaborate. Having worked as a financialadvisor in a wealth management firm, I know we communicated. Ican't say we truly collaborated,” she adds. “One of the greatestbarriers is our ego, our desire to be the trusted advisor whochampions our own recommendations and ideas.”

Instead, Mitchell-Blitch recommends bringing key advisorstogether—not just the accountant and attorney but trust officer,banker, psychologist, business coach—on a routine basis to shareideas and information about the client's financial andnon-financial objectives. Once or twice a year, key advisors shouldmeet in person to assess priorities for the following six to 12months.

“Innovation occurs as a result of collaboration,” saysMitchell-Blitch, dean of collaboration for the Purposeful PlanningInstitute. “It allows you to look at something from a differentangle. That's where creativity takes place.”

3. Focus on family

Many advisors today still have an exclusive relationship withthe male head of household, ignoring the spouse and heirs. Yet 70%of surviving wives ultimately leave their husband's chief advisor,according to Matt Halloran, president of Top Advisor Coaching inPortage, Mich.

“You have no relationship capital with the spouse because you'reonly talking to the husband. It kills me. Not only that, advisorsare not paying attention to the kids or heirs at all,” Halloransays. “You have to create the situation for that to happen.”

[Related: Client prospecting in 2015: 4 steps tosuccess]

Halloran suggests holding a multi-generational family retreat asan opportunity for grandparents to pass down wisdom about money andlife. During one recent family conference he arranged, thegrandparents, tears in their eyes, said: “How come nobody has donethis for me before?” The next week, one of the adult childrenparked $800,000 with the advisor who hosted the meeting.

“The problem is people think only the wealthy have the capacityto do this. I believe it needs to be done with everybody,” headded. “For a middle market advisor, this is a great way to run avery sustainable business.”

4. Create a culture

As a small firm, Vista Capital Partners in Portland, Oregon, hadthat special something that kept employees happy and clients close.CEO Doug Johanson wants to make sure it stays that way.

Last year, he produced an internal document called the CultureProject that puts into writing what matters most about Vista'scompany culture. The document was created in collaboration with afour-member culture committee. Among its bullet points: The desireto feel part of something bigger. Getting the right people on thebus. Pick one thing and be great at it.

“At first, culture kind of happens, based on the founder'svision oftentimes. After a while, it's important to define it andpurposefully cultivate it,” says Johanson, whose firm has 17employees and, after just 14 years, manages $900 million inassets.

“Our clients, when you ask why they hired us, talk about thefeeling they had when they walked through the office: the energy,the people, the personalities, the passion. Some of it's hard toput words around,” he adds. “You just feel it in your gut. We wantto ensure that we keep that mojo going. When you attract, retainand motivate the best people in the industry, the client is thedirect beneficiary of that.”

5. Think small

Barnaby Riedel's advice? Don't think big but small when youconsider your client relationships.

“Think within that same framework as you think of your normalrelationships. What surprises and delights you about your bestfriend? That she checks up on you with no ulterior motive? That shevalues you as a person? What are the virtues that we keep comingback to over time as fundamental to good quality relationships?People use these small things to judge whether you can handle thebig things,” says Riedel, chief research strategist for RiedelStrategy in Newport Beach, California.

It's often the little things, he adds, that make the client feelcared about not just as an asset, but as a person. Manners andetiquette also matter.

“Dressing well is a reflection on your character. If you takecare of yourself, you can take care of others. If you are carefulwith your words, you are probably careful with other stuff too,” hesaid. “The tendency is to think big and think grandiose and thinklarge, our recommendation is to think small—to think about thesemicro interactional details, the small ways in which we reveal ourcharacter.”

6. Manage expectations

From the start, the advisor needs to set expectations aroundclient communication—and remain consistent going forward.

“Advisors struggle with this. You need to set an expectationupfront regarding routine communications and how you are going tocommunicate when there is an event like market volatility or anevent in a client's life,” says Matt Lynch, managing partner ofStrategy & Resources in Dayton, Ohio. “Advisors do a reallygood job of this in the early stages of the courtship and then theybegin to take their clients for granted. The firms that experienceexceptional sustained growth are those that intentionally set up aprocess for the care and feeding of clients.”

[Related: 4 ways to increase online leadconversions]

Basically, the advisor needs to build a service model or processaround the promise. With technology, Lynch adds, it's not all thatdifficult.

“If I say we're going to meet in person once a year and have a30-minute call each month or quarter to talk about what's goingon—if I do that—then I'm probably doing a pretty good job ofbuilding relationship equity with the client. I'm delivering onwhat I promised,” he said. “It's not that they need to ramp up thefrequency of contact or change the way they deliver services, it'sjust more about setting the right expectations upfront.”

7. Rethink referrals

Many advisors put this tagline at the end of theircorrespondence: Referrals are your best compliment. Theyshouldn't.

“It's off-putting. I'm putting all the pressure on the client tocome up with someone and that puts pressure on the relationship,”says John Anderson, managing director and head of practicemanagement at SEI Advisor Network. “You need to put pressure on younot them.”

Anderson recommends following this four-step process. First,ask: Am I referable? Do I communicate well with clients? Do I showvalue? Am I transparent? Do my appearance and office convey myprofessionalism? Next: Do I have a value proposition? “This isfoundational to what you do,” Anderson says. “If you can't describewhat you do how do you expect your clients to describe what youdo?” Third: Do I have a niche and do my clients know that they fallwithin that niche? Referrals should come naturally—unasked—whenthese steps are followed.

Step four: When meeting with your top clients, record the namesof people they might mention such as “my brother John, an attorney”or “my friend Beth, a business owner.” Do some research. Find outif they would make good clients. Next time you meet with yourclient, ask for an introduction.

“It's as simple as saying 'How about the three of us gettogether for a round of golf or drinks?' Nine times out of 10, theclient wants to help the advisor. You're only going to do this withsatisfied clients, the ones you are engaged with and the ones youwant to replicate. This is the sort of thing that can actuallydeepen relationships.”

8. Add value

Joe Lukacs, CEO and chief performance strategist ofInternational Performance Group in Melbourne, Florida, haschallenged each of his clients this year to ask: How do I add valueto the client relationship?

In today's hyper commoditized environment, advisors who fail toadd value face what Lukacs calls a structured risk long-term.

“If you took an advisor from 1990 and teleported them to todaythey would say: What business are we in? Technology speeds up theevolutionary process. The portfolio manager-centric advisor is in areal dogfight,” says Lukacs. “The people-centric advisor needs todo everything the portfolio manager does with add ons: touch basephone calls on a regular basis; regular educational or fun clientevents, live or virtual; adding experts like tour operators orbusiness coaches. These all carry goodwill and goodwill capital isthe future of the industry.”

Lukacs has a client in Alaska who starts each review with thisquestion: How's your health? Others on the checklist: What's goingon with the family? What's keeping you up at night? What's on thebucket list?

“You need to start thinking about what you can do differently.We live in a culture of coaching and therapy. Younger people areeven more open to it,” he added. “Our business is going to bedifferent as a result. The bar is going to rise.”