There’s a lot of ground to cover in an initial meeting. Information must be exchanged, services must be described, documents must be signed, releases and waivers must be granted, client relationship management software must be updated, and rapport must be established. Moreover, clients and counselors may enter these meetings with different senses of what they’d like to accomplish, the nature of the financial issues, and the way forward.

For example, counselors have undergone training in financial education and financial empowerment, and many have some measure of experience with the types of issues that a client may present. Counselors work on a daily basis with OFE’s model of financial counseling and system of measuring progress and desired outcomes. In contrast, clients may not have a working model of how to move from “Point A” to “Point B.” These divergent outlooks may make it difficult for clients to see the “big picture” as they meet with their counselors.

At the end of an initial meeting, a client will often have new information, recommended courses of action from a counselor, and, potentially, a follow-up appointment scheduled with the counselor.

What if we augmented the role/model of the counselor with that of the “concierge” to guide clients through scheduling, the counseling process, and additional logistics and follow-up?