On any given day, a successful advisor is balancing competing priorities: a long-standing client with a complex estate question, a newer client seeking reassurance in volatile markets, and a steady stream of administrative and planning work that keeps their business moving forward.
For many MDRT members, a deliberate approach to client segmentation helps calm the chaos, allowing them not only to deliver excellent advice, but to do so consistently, thoughtfully and at scale.
Transparent approach
Transparency and empathy are important to Tim Daniel Clairmont, MSFS, LACP, a 16-year MDRT member, in his business, so he is open with his clients about segmentation.
“It never felt right to me to segment my clients as A, B and C, and have that behind the scenes,” he said. “My clients know exactly where they are. I also didn’t want to choose A, B and C labels, since nobody wants to be a C client. So we went with pearls, opals, rubies and diamonds.”
Because Clairmont, who is also a Top of the Table member, is transparent with his clients about their segmentation, he focuses solely on invested assets as the sorting factor:
- Pearls: $250,000 and below
- Opals: $250,000 to $500,000
- Rubies: $500,000 to $1 million
- Diamonds: $1 million to $3 million
Clairmont recently added blue diamonds to the group, which are clients who have more than $3 million invested with his firm.
“That transparency was so important that I needed it to be black and white,” he said. “And if I have something that’s soft or subjective, there’s a good chance that I’m communicating to somebody, ‘I really like you,’ and other people, ‘I really don’t like you.’ That’s not my jam,” he added with a laugh.
For more MDRT-member exclusive client segmentation ideas, read the full version of this article in “Serving every slice” from the July/August 2026 issue of Round the Table.
