Client Centricity in Financial Services: Strengthening Collaboration Between Support, Control and Front-Office Teams

Specialists, managers and heads of compliance, risk, legal, tax, operations, finance, IT, KYC/AML and internal control. Designed for teams in banks, insurance companies, asset managers, fiduciary firms and financial sector professionals (PSFs) seeking to strengthen collaboration with sales teams, relationship managers, product teams and the front office.

No previous training in client relations is required. Participants should be familiar with their professional responsibilities and work with the front office or other internal functions. Anonymised workplace situations are collected before the course.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

- Identify the expectations and constraints of internal clients and explain how these affect the end-client experience.
- Clarify their expert mandate, non-negotiable requirements and scope for flexibility to establish clear working arrangements.
- Communicate clear, actionable responses that combine options, a recommendation and the implications for risk, timing and requirements.
- Adapt their approach and communication when handling an urgent request, a disagreement or a decision requiring trade-offs with the front office.
- Co-create working standards that make exchanges clearer and commitments more predictable.
- Define three practices to test over 30 days, with success criteria and feedback from day-to-day work to guide adjustments.

A technically sound decision must also be understood and usable by the people who implement it. In financial services, the quality of collaboration between specialists and the front office directly influences the end-client experience.

ClientCentricity4Experts helps support and control functions make their expertise more accessible, develop responses that offer workable solutions and build smoother working relationships while fulfilling their mandate.

BEFORE THE COURSE: STARTING WITH YOUR WORKPLACE REALITY

A 60-minute scoping meeting with the sponsor clarifies priorities, recurring difficulties and success criteria. The collection of 5 to 10 anonymised situations allows exercises to reflect the team’s day-to-day work.

CORE PROGRAMME: 4-HOUR WORKSHOP

1. Understand the internal client experience

Identify front-office expectations, commercial constraints and pressure from end clients. Recognise practices that help work progress and those that create delays, misunderstanding or tension.

2. Clarify the expert mandate and working arrangements

Make responsibilities, decision criteria and non-negotiable requirements explicit. Distinguish what is possible, what is not and the conditions needed to move forward.

3. Develop responses that offer workable solutions

Use the Options & Recommendation grid to present three options within the relevant constraints, their implications and a reasoned recommendation. Explain requirements in language that supports decision-making.

4. Practise sensitive conversations

Rehearse responses to urgent requests, explain limits, address disagreements and prepare decisions requiring trade-offs. Adjust your approach between protecting, challenging and partnering according to the situation.

5. Define shared standards and prepare to apply them

Co-create the team’s approach to working with internal clients: clear responses, stated timelines, commitments and communication arrangements. Select three practices to test over 30 days and define how to observe their effects.

EXTENDED PROGRAMME: 8-HOUR COURSE IN TOTAL

The 8-hour format includes the core programme and adds:

6. In-depth work on the team’s cases

Examine available options, the decision-making process and the language used. Develop both the proposed response and the way it will be communicated to the people involved.

7. A stakeholder collaboration strategy

Identify the people to involve around a specific case: business teams, management, committees and related functions. Build an alignment plan and define individual or paired actions.

AFTER THE COURSE: APPLYING THE LEARNING AT WORK

Participants receive a playbook, a summary and a 30-day practice plan. Facilitated feedback and individual coaching can be added as optional follow-up support.

- Internal client focus and the end-client experience.
- Front-office expectations and constraints.
- Expert mandate, responsibilities and scope for flexibility.
- Non-negotiable requirements and conditions for proceeding.
- Clear communication and explanation of decisions.
- Options & Recommendation grid: three options, one recommendation and their implications.
- Protector, challenger and partner roles.
- Sensitive conversations: urgent requests, disagreements, escalation and trade-offs.
- Shared working standards and the team’s approach to internal client relationships.
- Conversation scripts and decision checklists.
- A 30-day practice plan and success criteria.
- 8-hour format: stakeholder strategy and individual or paired action plans.

Focused input, anonymised workplace cases, collaborative workshops and role-play. Trainer feedback and peer learning. Participants develop shared tools and a 30-day practice plan.

Formative assessment through exercises and role-play, focusing on message clarity, respect for the expert mandate and the quality of proposed options. Participants define the actions they will test and their success criteria.

No previous training in client relations is required. Participants should be familiar with their professional responsibilities and work with the front office or other internal functions. Anonymised workplace situations are collected before the course.

ClientCentricity4Experts playbook: conversation scripts, decision checklists, Options & Recommendation grid, role positioning guide and a 30-day practice plan. The 8-hour format adds a stakeholder strategy and individual or paired action plans.

In-house training for a team of up to 10 participants. Content and exercises are tailored to your organisation’s roles, priorities and workplace situations.

Preparation includes a 60-minute scoping meeting with the sponsor and the collection of 5 to 10 anonymised cases. Success criteria are agreed in advance.

Dates, location, language and delivery arrangements are agreed with the company. The playbook, summary and action plan are included. Individual coaching and a feedback session after the course are available as optional extras.

A tailored programme covering several teams or locations can be designed on request.

EXPERTISE THAT HELPS THE BUSINESS MOVE FORWARD

An urgent request, a misunderstood requirement or a case passed between several departments: the quality of collaboration is tested in everyday situations. ClientCentricity4Experts works on these moments to make expert contributions clearer, more useful and more predictable.

A COURSE BUILT AROUND YOUR WORKPLACE SITUATIONS

Sponsor scoping and anonymised company cases keep the programme grounded in daily work. Participants develop their own working standards and leave with tools they can use in their roles: conversation scripts, a decision grid and a 30-day practice plan.

FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

The course is delivered by Romain TISNE, trainer and executive coach certified at HEC Paris. His career includes roles at PwC Luxembourg, followed by responsibility for Compliance & Controls at Swiss Life in Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. This experience informs an approach to business collaboration that recognises the responsibilities and constraints of support and control functions.

OPTIONS FOR WIDER IMPLEMENTATION

For organisations wishing to involve several teams, a tailored programme can combine shared standards, regular collaboration practices, coaching and impact measurement.

APPROVED TRAINING PROVIDER AND CO-FUNDING

TALANTLERS is an approved training provider in Luxembourg. Training expenditure may be included in an application for state co-funding, subject to the conditions applicable to the company, the employees concerned and the application submitted.

DISCUSS YOUR TEAM’S PRIORITIES

Contact Romain TISNE to identify the format that best fits your team:
romain.tisne@talantlers.com
+352 661 198 614