Segment your client base for efficiency and growth

Client segmentation helps advisory practices manage time, scale effectively, and deliver personalized service—without overengineering the process.

Whether your business is growing rapidly or refining service delivery, a thoughtful approach to segmentation can help you gain clarity, unlock opportunity, and stay aligned with what matters most: your clients.

A thoughtful client segmentation plan can offer big benefits, including: 

• Efficiency: Allocate your time and resources more intentionally
• Personalization: Match your service to client needs and preferences
• Profitability: Understand economics across your client base
• Strategic growth: Identify your ideal client—and attract more of them

Put segmentation to work

Start small and fit the plan to your practice. Pilot with one team or advisor. Choose one lens to focus on first. Then use the insights to spark conversation—not judgement. And remember that you don’t have to change everything overnight.

Segmentation is not about saying no. It’s about being intentional when saying yes.

Create your segmentation framework

A flexible, step-by-step process will help you explore what segmentation framework fits your practice. Choose the elements that best match your business model, client base, and growth strategy.

The outline below sets out the steps to creating a segmentation framework. If you’re ready to jump in, you can download the client segmentation worksheet. Looking to level up the segmentation strategy you have in place? Access the advanced segmentation insights guide for strategies focused on customer relationship management (CRM) integrations, profitability mapping, and more.     

1. Define your purpose

Segmenting without a purpose leads to confusion—not clarity—so start simple. Before jumping into client tiers or detailing criteria, think about why you’re segmenting your client base. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are we looking to scale more effectively?
• Do we want to refine our service experience?
• Are we unclear where time and profitability are (mis)aligned?

Clearly outlining goals at the start will help focus your segmentation plan.

2. Choose your segmentation lens

While revenue and assets are important inputs, avoid defaulting to AUM-only segmentation as it rarely tells the full story. 

Layering in behavioral, complexity, or life-stage insights can help you uncover service mismatches or growth opportunities that might otherwise be missed.

For example, a client with $500K in investable assets who consistently refers new clients may deserve more attention than a $1.5M client who engages minimally and does not make referrals.

This type of insight-driven approach helps practices build a more future-facing, strategically aligned client base, and not just reinforce past success patterns.

Potential segmentation lenses:

• Revenue/AUM: Align time and profitability
• Client complexity: Align service with level of effort
• Behavior: Customize by engagement style
• Life stage: Align with planning
• Potential: Invest where it matters longer term

3. Map your client base

Use your CRM or a simple spreadsheet to assign current clients to segments. Aim for three to five core segments to keep it manageable, and add qualitative context where needed. Consider running a pilot test and adjust as you go.

4. Define the experience by segment

Set expectations around time, service, and communication for each segment. Map out potential differences in: 

• Service levels
• Contact frequency
• Team involvement
• Pricing models
• Experience enhancers

5. Communicate with confidence

Plan how to communicate your segmentation approach. Internal teams will need training on the new method; clients will need to know about changes in service. While each will need tailored messages, be sure to use benefit-oriented language for both so that each person can see what’s in it for them, and how the transition is focused on value creation. 

6. Review and refine your approach

Segmentation is not a one-and-done exercise. Set reminders to regularly reassess and refine your approach as needed to make sure it is working as planned. Consider feedback from both clients and team members as potential refinements. 

For more in-depth details and a step-by-step look at the process, we’ve created two worksheets to help you define a new segmentation approach for your advisory practice: 

• Client segmentation worksheet: Get the step-by-step process to define and implement a structured segmentation strategy that fits your practice.
• Advanced client segmentation worksheet: Take your segmentation approach to the next level with an intentional, data-driven segmentation strategy.