Opinion

Certainty Blog

Ready?

Ready?

Ready? Are we ever ready for new things? In retrospect, don’t all of our attempts at new things suck initially? Were you ready for your first child? Were you ready for  your first ever client? Were you ready for your first ever employee? Were you ready for the...

Advice professionals don’t take commissions

Advice professionals don’t take commissions

Advice professionals don’t take commissions. The latest twist in the Future of Financial Advice exposes even more what the real debate is about – trust. Not reducing red tape. ASIC reckoned a couple of years ago only 18% of Australians sought out an adviser. Last year...

How will everyday Australians afford quality financial advice?

How will everyday Australians afford quality financial advice?

Remember when coffee was instant? Remember those cafe bars which boasted only 5 cents a cup? Now Australian’s are paying at least $3.25 a cup. Could you imagine convincing the cafe bar coffee addict of yesteryear they’ll be paying at least 65 times the price in years...

What comes first – prospecting or value?

What comes first – prospecting or value?

Got a call last week from an old client for whom we did benchmarking work fifteen years ago. His son joined him in business about five years ago. Sensibly at that time, they made the hard decisions required to setup a sustainable foundation for their future making the...

Is your pricing strangling your business dreams…

Is your pricing strangling your business dreams…

Finding it hard to get to those important but non-urgent projects? Happy with activity, but still hoping it will soon reflect on your bottom-line? Feeling lost as to how others seem to find time that you can’t? Blaming your software, systems, procedures or people for...

Having better advice conversations…

Having better advice conversations…

Assuming your advice clients are engaging for the long-term rather than short-term (and therefore you aim to earn on-going fees every year, not just the first year), then a re-think on the ‘depth’ of engagement between your firm and its advice clients might be...

Needed! Great financial advice leadership, less financial advice sales…

Needed! Great financial advice leadership, less financial advice sales…

Life Insurance has to be sold mate! I have heard the above line often from financial planners and life agents claiming that without ‘sales tactics’  and ‘insurance commissions’ a lot of Australians would be in fair worse position than they are today if they hadn’t...

Financial Project Managers tend to price ‘the lot’

Financial Project Managers tend to price ‘the lot’

I ended my last post by asking you whether, if your role was not so much that of a ‘financial planner’ as a ‘financial project manager’ for your advice clients, you would still price just for your ‘bit’ of advice. One thing is becoming clearer to me. There are an...

Two approaches to pricing

Two approaches to pricing

In my last post, I posed the question whether you price the whole job for your clients, or only your part of it. I’ve found there are generally two approaches to pricing jobs where our advice is interwoven with ‘other financial aspects’ in our clients’ lives. The...

How do you price your advice?

How do you price your advice?

When delivering your advice, do you price the whole job?  (Or just your piece of advice?) There are a number of reactions to this question. A common response is something like: “No. It’s irresponsible and, in fact, stupid to put yourself and your firm in a position...

Limited by your own advice beliefs – Part 2

Limited by your own advice beliefs – Part 2

In my last post (Part 1), I shared my memory of a conversation that took place at one of my recent one-day workshops in Brisbane, between Lance Cheung of the ‘tiny giant’ firm Parinity, and a number of older, more experienced advisers.  The conversation launched when...

Limited by your own advice beliefs – Part 1

Limited by your own advice beliefs – Part 1

I was running one of my one-day advice workshops the other day in Brisbane. We were talking about the calculation and pitching of advice fees in second and subsequent years when one of the attendees, an ex-ANZ Private Banker, made a comment along the lines of...

Are your fees linked to the reasons clients will pay them?

Are your fees linked to the reasons clients will pay them?

It didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. They were seeking advice and direction for their combined financial planning and accounting operation. We didn’t get far, because two of the three partners believed the financial planning proposition was all about investments and the...

Why are clients paying your fees?

Why are clients paying your fees?

Why are clients paying your financial advisory fees? Here’s some real examples taken from last week’s conversations between the advisers we work with and their clients: “I just want to stop worrying as to whether I can afford the basics…” “I just want to get away a...

The overturning of APES230

The overturning of APES230

I ended my last post on the shallowness of slogans with the observation that any serious attempt at reform in the financial advice profession must focus on reforming the profession’s structure and the incentives inherent within it. Which brings me to the extraordinary...

Shallow slogans

Shallow slogans

Clients come first. No arguments. How could anyone argue against such a clear sentiment? How could any professional financial adviser argue to the contrary? Hang on. What if that phrase was just a well practised ‘sound-bite’, used like the phrase ‘how are you going?’...

The bluntest weapon of choice – Price.

The bluntest weapon of choice – Price.

Expect to see a lot more of this type of advertising similar to this recent ad from the AMP giant. Also expect to see some significant ‘creative destruction‘ consequences. Is there anything wrong with ‘specials’ and ‘discounts’ ? Of course not – my wife loves...

Rich conversations:  Uncomfortable and transformative

Rich conversations: Uncomfortable and transformative

What is a ‘rich’ conversation? From my observations of firms that do them well, rich conversations differ from the majority of conversations in a number of ways. And they can be hard in the beginning. All of a sudden asking new (and existing) clients questions like...

The emergence and growth of rich conversations

The emergence and growth of rich conversations

How could you possibly make your advising any better? Has the thought occurred to you that the greatest advancement you might make in your advisory business isn’t a new product, service, platform or dealership? That it might just be how you advise your clients? For...

RG246 – Manna from Heaven or poor regulatory compromise?

RG246 – Manna from Heaven or poor regulatory compromise?

So all potential conflicted remuneration ‘arrangements’ between Australia advisers and their providers entered into prior 1st July 2013 are ‘grandfathered’. Is this a good or bad thing? Dunno. When I first heard yesterday I was disappointed. But, as with most things,...

Real Life Success Story: Referrals

Real Life Success Story: Referrals

Recently, Dieter Tode of Wealth Plus Solutions has been getting an impressive number of referrals coming through. So we quizzed him about his approach. When asked what he thought was the most important thing he’d done in the process of seeking referrals, Dieter said...

Is Financial Services focusing on the right issues?

Is Financial Services focusing on the right issues?

What are we meant to do? I mean in our role as financial services professionals, what is our immediate focus when in front of our clients? Help the ambitious business owner get another extension to their overdraft , or help them restrain their financial ambitions and...

Professionalism Serves the Greater Good

Professionalism Serves the Greater Good

To my mind, professionalism was best defined by Robert MC Brown – a unique champion of APES230, amongst other causes. Robert has said on many occasions that professionalism is acting in a manner that firstly respects the greater good of the general public, then the...

Professionalism in the context of Advice Propositions

Professionalism in the context of Advice Propositions

Now let’s refer to the Advice Proposition Grid that we use with the financial advisory firms that use our business consulting. Simplistically, the Advice Proposition Grid attempts to define four broad advice propositions. Importantly it is expected that professionals...

Professionalism: Does the financial advice industry need it defined?

Professionalism: Does the financial advice industry need it defined?

Does getting clear definitions of Professionalism for financial services really matter? If your doctor’s practice received financial support from the drug companies she recommended, would you view that as professional? If you knew your accountant’s business would be...

What type of financial advisory firm will you create? Part 2

What type of financial advisory firm will you create? Part 2

In my last post (Part 1), I introduced you to my Uncle Martin and his enthusiastic approach to what he did as a specialist aeronautical engineer working for Qantas. I also commented that many of the financial planners I know take a similar approach to their work as my...

What type of financial advisory firm will you create? Part 1

What type of financial advisory firm will you create? Part 1

My old uncle Martin loved his job. His enthusiasm for what he did was so infectious, every time I was with him I wanted to do whatever he did when I grew up.  He was an aeronautical engineer for Qantas. When I was young, he took me on a few night-time tours into his...

Engaging Financial Advice Clients: It isn’t in the details, is it?

Engaging Financial Advice Clients: It isn’t in the details, is it?

I was speaking last week with a purchaser of my latest book – Delivering Certainty. He says he enjoyed the book – thank you – BUT (there’s often a but…) he’s found that my proposed ‘Terms of Engagement’ letter used to engage the client didn’t contain enough “meat and...

The future of advice and SMSFs

The future of advice and SMSFs

Last week we talked about the financial advice climate heading into 2013, Kohler’s call to ‘Save Our Super’ and the challenges and opportunities this will present to all of us. Whether an opportunity or a challenge, one thing is clear – a self-managed super fund is...

Will 2013 be the end of the road for independent advisers?

Will 2013 be the end of the road for independent advisers?

What’s ahead in 2013? Have you checked out Alan Kohler’s www.saveoursuper.com.au? This gives a good indication of what’s ahead in 2013 and beyond. Kohler is editor-in-chief of Business Spectator, in which he recently wrote “Australia’s super system is a national...

A question for Australia’s CPAs…

A question for Australia’s CPAs…

CPA Australia produced a new report last week – “Household Savings & Retirement: Where has all my super gone?” Essentially the report puts a position that the superannuation system is busted because people aren’t adopting the appropriate behaviours towards their...

The new value proposition for financial advisers…

The new value proposition for financial advisers…

Some financial advisers are searching for a new value proposition as one might search for a lost set of car keys. Others are searching for their value proposition as a golfer frustratingly tries to regain their former groove and rhythm when their swing was smoother,...

Why and how to avoid advice silos

Why and how to avoid advice silos

An advisory firm cannot perform at its peak when its clients are ‘owned’ by individual advisers or advice teams within the firm rather than by the advice firm itself.  Individual ownership of advice relationships results in advice silos. Silos are problematic for a...

The yearly recapturing of WHY

The yearly recapturing of WHY

Traditional annual client meetings frequently devolve into lengthy reviews of the performance or non-performance of an adviser’s recommendations during the preceding year.  From a re-engagement perspective, this isn’t useful. The review process has merit.  It is...

Advice relationships need trust not rapport

Advice relationships need trust not rapport

I think that from a client’s perspective, being in an advice relationship is rather like being a passenger on a ship captained by their financial adviser. When seas are calm and the sun is shining, it’s nice to enjoy a rapport with the ship’s captain, to share stories...

Uncertainty thrives as leadership wanes…

Uncertainty thrives as leadership wanes…

Financial uncertainty is thriving. Thriving, almost out of control it seems, unlike any period in our current generation. It’s largely due to the lack of leadership. It’s tricky being a leaders when things are uncertain. Whilst we can have little effect on the...

Professionals don’t seek permission

Professionals don’t seek permission

Would a builder ask your permission to use a hammer to build an extension on your house? Unlikely!  And if he did, you’d probably doubt his competence as a builder, if not his sanity. A hammer is a critical tool of a builder’s profession.  Likewise, a dictaphone (used...

Your client value proposition…

Your client value proposition…

Too many people who know too little about the day to day job of providing financial advice are placing too much emphasis on finding the ‘magic’ or ‘right’ value proposition that is somehow going to convince your clients to work with you and pay your fees. “How can you...

Mindsets – The Importance of Being Present

Mindsets – The Importance of Being Present

When asked how our day was, we’ll usually give a quick answer: “Fine.”  If pressed, though, unless something unusual occurred, we’ll find it hard to recollect many details of the hours we just lived through. This happens because in order to remember the details, we...

SOAs aren’t worth the paper they are written on…

SOAs aren’t worth the paper they are written on…

I love to fly. Always have. Got my fixed wing license in ’84 and my rotary wing license in ’87. Great fun. I haven’t flown much of late, due lack of time and need. That’ll change in time. I particularly love the flight planning and executing the plan. Even though you...

A Question of Integrity…

A Question of Integrity…

Imagine this… Scanning the newspaper one day you learn that your local doctor, who you’ve taken your family to for years, might be getting ‘subsidies’ from the drug companies whose medicines she recommends to her patients. Being inquisitive on your next visit, you ask...

Identifying the Ideal Advice Client – Part Five of Five….

Identifying the Ideal Advice Client – Part Five of Five….

The last identifier of an Ideal Advice Client is about value. Does the client value your advice enough to pay for it? Ideal advice clients do, not every time, but for most of the time. This is different from the question many advisers stumble over  – can the client...

Identifying the Ideal Advice Client – Part 4…

Identifying the Ideal Advice Client – Part 4…

Like all services professionals, financial advisers provide their clients with services that they can’t provide for themselves. OK, that’s a given. To date, the majority of the financial issues that have created the demand for financial planning advice and services...

Identifying the Ideal Financial Advice Client – Part 3…

Identifying the Ideal Financial Advice Client – Part 3…

The third element of identifying an ideal advice client is whether or not your firm can add value to their financial lives. Provided your client does not need to win lotto to make their financial dreams come true, this attribute of an ideal advice client, like the...

Identifying the ideal financial advice client – Part 2…

Identifying the ideal financial advice client – Part 2…

It’s hard to care for someone you don’t respect. Following on from Part 1 of How to Identify an Ideal Advice Client, when you are delivering ‘tough’ advice it really helps if you genuinely CARE about the individual(s) you are advising. Because when you care, it...

Identifying the ideal financial advice client – Part 1…

Identifying the ideal financial advice client – Part 1…

The first criteria for identifying your ideal financial advice client is whether they take and act upon your advice. It’s hard to have an effective advice relationship if your advice doesn’t consistently influence and guide the financial behaviours and actions of your...

Where have all the on-goings gone?

Where have all the on-goings gone?

What would your financial advice business look like without it’s on-going revenue? Can you remember back before mid-1990’s when most revenue in financial services was up-front? Can you remember what that was like? Could you and your business go back there (and would...

Focus on the client’s ambitions before their facts…

Focus on the client’s ambitions before their facts…

They aren’t expecting it! They are expecting to talk about the markets, or self-managed superannuation funds, or when they’ll get their money  back or term deposit rates. And why wouldn’t they? When they go to their dentist they talk about their teeth, when they go to...

The Four Value Propositions – Part Four (of four)…

The Four Value Propositions – Part Four (of four)…

The “Consultant” Consultants thrive best in on-going chaos and complexity. They don’t just react, they are able to create, constantly add value and help their clients (and thus themselves) to desired returns as complexities of all sorts constantly appear and grow....

The Four Value Propositions – Part Three…

The Four Value Propositions – Part Three…

The “Financial Carer” Good doctors tend to focus on preventing disease as much as treating it. This means understanding the patient as well as the diseases that might (or might not) be afflicting them. Similar too for financial advisers. The clients who will pay for a...

The Four Advice Propositions – Part Two…

The Four Advice Propositions – Part Two…

The Specialist When the going gets complex, everyone seeks out the specialist. Whether for our cars, our health, our relationships, our special morning coffee or our next choice of fly-fishing rods. Specialists make the really complex stuff simple. Like the knee...

The Four Advice Propositions – Part One…

The Four Advice Propositions – Part One…

The “Supplier Proposition” Do you have clients that seek the advice proposition that I call the “Supplier Proposition”? You can identify them by their focus. Without trying to sound obvious, they only seek what you have. By that I mean, they are less interested in you...

You just can’t afford to ignore them…

You just can’t afford to ignore them…

Yeah, times are tight. But its not an excuse to ignore the careers, aspirations, goals and hopes of your ‘up-and-coming’ talent. No 25-34 year old up-and-coming talent in your firm is going to peg their future on your ‘good intent’ or talk about their future potential...

New meaning of risk v return emerging?

New meaning of risk v return emerging?

In the old days of financial planning a few of the ‘rock stars’ headlining the conferences relating ‘how to be great’ were natural rapport builders. Their reputation and presentations stank of personality traits and habits to ‘get clients to like you’ and then they’ll...

If I can make 90% profit with my financial services, why shouldn’t I?

If I can make 90% profit with my financial services, why shouldn’t I?

It’s a good question? I got challenged in a workshop the other day from a seasoned and successful owner of a financial planning firm when I cited that, in our experience, BEST PRACTICE profitability target is around 40% (ebit) per advice client per annum. “What rot!”...

“No Assumptions…”

Ironic isn’t it? Our industry rigorously reminds its clients not to view past returns as a indication of future returns, but too rarely stops to question if the client’s past desired outcomes are indicative of their current desired outcomes. Why do financial advisers...

Keeping your financial advice simple…

I was with a great group of financial advisers yesterday who reminded me the importance of getting the basics right. They are so engulfed by so much ‘noise’ in their professional worlds. Markets are up, markets are down. Personal wages (these advisers were primarily...

It’s not about FOFA, it’s bigger than that…

So the Parliamentary Joint Committee set up to advise the government on the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation can’t seem to agree on a set of common recommendations. It matters little. It’s inevitable that significant legislation like FoFA will face...

Defending Opt-in – Part II

The Government should not be interfering with how professional financial advisers charge their clients. Really? This is one of the many arguments against the proposed Opt-in provisions in the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) legislation. The argument is a tad ironic...

Defending Opt-in…

The Opt-In requirement contained in the proposed Future of Financial Advice legislation is fundamental to elevating the status of the current financial services industry into the profession Australians deserve. The current situation where opt-in is the default option,...

Financial Advice only for the wealthy?

Financial Advice only for the wealthy?

The financial advice industry has chased the high net worth client like the paparazzi have chased film stars. Emerging advice professionals should be wary of adopting the same mindsets and arguments that advice will only be sought by people with lots of money. Great...

Simple, Accountable Planning for your Advice Firm…

Simple, Accountable Planning for your Advice Firm…

A big part of a financial adviser’s job is to make the complex things in their client’s financial lives simple. I’ve long been a fan of Verne Harnish, his Rockefeller Habits and particularly his One-Page Strategic Plans. As you make your client’s financial lives...

How to identify your advice clients? They take your HARD advice.

How to identify your advice clients? They take your HARD advice.

You don’t build an advice business but just dispensing easy advice. You build your advice business by successfully delivering the hard advice because that’s the advice that usually counts most. It’s hard to be confident that your clients really are ‘advice’ clients if...

The Depth of Independents?

The Depth of Independents?

The proposed death of ‘independents’ thanks to tough markets, tighter legislation (e.g. opt-in, dealer group overrides) and growth plans of the majors is all based on old thinking. We’ve got to get over the old days! Those predicting the death of great, independent...

Do you pick your surgeon on the sharpness of her scalpel?

Do you pick your surgeon on the sharpness of her scalpel?

You might be considered a tad strange if you wanted to see the surgeon’s scalpel before selecting her as the one to get your dicky knee working again. Why then do we do this when positioning our financial advice? Matt, a great young adviser from Perth, said to me last...

Look out for the gates and the paths beyond…

Look out for the gates and the paths beyond…

Gates in our client conversations. If you’re not looking for them you have to be lucky to stumble upon one… Some advisers have made the decision never to open them even if they do notice them. They prefer the conversational paths that they are used to. Their paths...

It’s not just interest rates…what about wealth rates?

It’s not just interest rates…what about wealth rates?

Hasn’t there been a lot of noise about how the banks aren’t automatically passing on recent Reserve Bank reductions in interest rates? What about the quiet pillaging the banks and fund managers are doing on wealth rates? Where’s the noise on that? For instance,...

Dictaphones are for advisers what hammers are for builders…

Dictaphones are for advisers what hammers are for builders…

In the 2011 world of advice there is, amazingly, still a major disconnect between what we initially say is the value we add we later articulate as the value we have added. Thanks probably to Financial Services Reform legislation introduced over 10 years ago, we know...

Want to make money next year?

Want to make money next year?

Want to make money next year? Here’s a thought – change your ‘client review meetings’ to ‘client re-discovery meetings’. Make it an aim for the clients to have a ‘discovery’ during their next annual client re-discovery meeting. Why? Because it will engage your clients...

Don’t charge by the hour… (ever…)

Don’t charge by the hour… (ever…)

Whoever came up with the idea that selling work by the hour is a mark of a professional really should take a bow for being one of the greatest professional illusionists that ever lived. I’m still amazed when I hear advisers confidently talk about how they quote a...

OldCo isn’t bad, it’s just OldCo…

OldCo isn’t bad, it’s just OldCo…

Lance Cheung and Keiren Murphy ran a up-and-coming tiny advisory giant called Parinity  (i.e. small in size but destined to be a giant among future advice firms) from Brisbane’s garden suburb of Ascot. We spoke earlier this week about a common and constant struggle...

We don’t want to talk about long-term goals…

We don’t want to talk about long-term goals…

I recently met with the head of a large and successful brokering group. Let’s call him George. George said that his brokers didn’t want to get into discussions with clients about their long term goals. That’s a distraction from what they do which was delivering great...

How to beat the competitor’s price everytime…

How to beat the competitor’s price everytime…

When offering advice, there’s only one sure way to consistently ‘beat’ a competitor’s pricing… Offer more value. Advice clients don’t want your products, they don’t even want your advice. They just want their outcomes. Your advice is a means to an ends, that’s all. To...

The greatest Ponzi scheme in financial services….

The greatest Ponzi scheme in financial services….

I reckon the current valuations of financial services firms reflect a massive and growing Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme underwritten by Australia’s major financial institutions. My reasoning is as follows: Valuations of 2.5+ times on-going revenue are still common for...

When delivering advice, free is the most expensive price…

When delivering advice, free is the most expensive price…

I was getting a haircut at Martin’s place (they’re great, always busy) here in Manly (just downstairs from our new office) when I was reminded by Martin’s partner Masa of the Japanese saying “free is the most expensive price”. We were initially talking about bad...

Milestones for your advice development journey…

Milestones for your advice development journey…

Do you know your numbers? I’m amazed how well advisers know the “numbers” (i.e. portfolio balances, sums insured, cash flow balances) in the lives of their clients yet pay a fraction of attention to the “numbers” in their own business lives. I’ve long been a fan of...

Could I buy you a coffee? – Part 1…

Could I buy you a coffee? – Part 1…

One aspect about my job I enjoy are the regular requests each day to catch up (and I send a few myself too…) for a coffee. There are several motives behind each request to catch up but by far the most common from advisers running advisory firms is something like: I’m...

Price is your best time management tool…

Price is your best time management tool…

Price is your best time management tool. I’ve seen lots of advisers waste lots of precious time experimenting with workflow management software systems, diary management tools, ideal week templates, and job descriptions in their mis-guided quest to increase their...

How do you know you’ve got the right proposition?

How do you know you’ve got the right proposition?

How do you know if you have the right proposition? You don’t. An adviser’s proposition isn’t like Coca-Cola’s secret drink formula or Google’s secret search algorithms. Financial advisers are in the intangible business of value definition and creation which varies...

Can we explore that further?

Can we explore that further?

Are we as advisers too focused upon what’s not working in today’s marketplace that we are forgoing great opportunities? Are we too blind-sided by non-performing markets, impending legislation, and continued economic gloom that we have become nervous spectators to a...

Making a living out of uncertainty…

Making a living out of uncertainty…

The proposition of first choice for financial advisers must surely be uncertainty itself. We’re at a tipping point on so many fronts that the only certainty for the financial lives of our clients seems to be continued uncertainty in their financial lives. On one front...

Keen for growth in stagnant markets?

Keen for growth in stagnant markets?

Does stagnation in financial markets mean stagnation for your advice firm? Not for Keiren Murphy and Lance Cheung and their gleaming new advice firm – Parinity – which they have recently established in an renovated old-Queenslander office in the Brisbane suburb of...

Next generation value propositions– the VP Grid

Next generation value propositions– the VP Grid

In the consulting work with our advisory firms, we use the following VP Grid™ to map their current value propositions and the transition path to their new Next Generation Value Propositions. In reality, not all their current clients want or need advice. Nor does every...

What is the ‘next generation’ advice value proposition?

What is the ‘next generation’ advice value proposition?

Travis Martin and Deiter Tode of Wealth Plus Solutions in Perth are not like most advisers. Like other innovative advisory firms, they have worked hard to build their own ‘next generation’ value proposition, and they express it well: “…through the process we...

The change in our industry is structural evolution, not cyclical

The change in our industry is structural evolution, not cyclical

The sooner our industry recognises the changes underway today as being structural rather than cyclical, the sooner advisers and their clients will benefit. Most advisers incorrectly believe that the current market conditions, proposed legislation (i.e. FOFA), and...

Positioning fees in a post-commission world

Positioning fees in a post-commission world

I received an email last week from a fearful adviser citing the hours of work his firm had to undertake for an insurance product sale embedded in the client’s superannuation. The proposed legislation would outlaw him from charging commissions for this work in the...

Maslow-inspired client value propositions

Maslow-inspired client value propositions

Back in 2007, a few great advice firms, like Troy MacMillan’s The Wealth Designers, based in West Perth, Greg Keady and Jeff Wain’s Melbourne Private Wealth, based in South Yarra, and Brian Pert’s Pert and Associates, based in Southport, were being innovative with...

Framing up meetings – Part 6: Start with the non-dominant partner

Framing up meetings – Part 6: Start with the non-dominant partner

In approximately 50% of couples, one partner will historically have played the dominant role in discussing and planning their financial future with a financial planning firm.  When you’re about to undertake a Discovery meeting for a couple, it’s important to recognise...

Framing up meetings – Part 5: Explain your role

Framing up meetings – Part 5: Explain your role

Part 2 of this series discussed the importance of setting aside assumptions based on experience with traditional methods of financial planning.  The relationship you’re aiming to establish with your clients differs from the traditional financial planning...

Framing up meetings – Part 4: Explain the meeting process

Framing up meetings – Part 4: Explain the meeting process

As discussed in previous issues of this series of articles, using meeting time effectively helps keep the meeting focused and participants engaged.  Explaining the standard Discovery meeting process to your clients during the meeting frame-up aids in this by letting...

Framing up meetings – Part 3: Manage burning issues

Framing up meetings – Part 3: Manage burning issues

During the frame-up of a Discovery meeting, ask the potential advice client whether there is any burning issue they’d like to address during the meeting. Clearly adding a client’s burning issues to the agenda at the beginning of a Discovery meeting has several...

Framing up meetings – Part 2: Assume nothing

Framing up meetings – Part 2: Assume nothing

As discussed in Part 1 of this series of articles, the purpose of a Discovery meeting differs from that of a traditional financial planning meeting.  In order to achieve that new purpose, assumptions based on previous experiences and traditional methods must be set...

Framing up meetings – Part 1: Establish the context

Framing up meetings – Part 1: Establish the context

Establishing context at the beginning of any meeting is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure that the meeting is effective.  People need to know why they’re attending.  They need to understand what the meeting is intended to accomplish.  An agenda –...

We have lost our way – Part 1: The ‘Wealth Management’ moniker

We have lost our way – Part 1: The ‘Wealth Management’ moniker

Since emerging around a decade ago, the term ‘Wealth Management’ has become a sort of default moniker for a wide range of financial services and offerings, similar to ‘climate change’, ‘fat-reduced’, and ‘social networking’. The term has been used (and abused) by many...

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