practice management Archives

The emotions that drive client decisions

by Tony Vidler There are three basic emotions that drive most client decisions, or actions, in financial services: 1. Fear 2. Greed 3. Love The one we often shy away from is the first one: Fear. I am going to suggest you might want to consider “slapping” some clients with it sometimes…not literally of […]

The Difference That Clear Strategy Makes To A Practice

by Tony Vidler Having a clear strategy is probably the most under-estimated element in professional services. The business often has a Vision; a clear picture of what it wants to look like, and what success means to the owners. The business often is excellent at Operational Planning. Perhaps because we are trained as planners […]

5 Tips for selling, or buying, a practice.

by Tony Vidler There are a number of traps that professionals consistently fall into when selling (or buying) a book of business. The mistakes are so consistent and prevalent that there is are some golden rules evolving on how to make sure any sale is successful. The Top 5 are: 1. Get professional help […]

Practice Growth Requires Leadership More Than Management

by Tony Vidler The most frequent thing I see that prevents great practice growth and holds advisers back from developing their dream business is a lack of vision. I don’t mean “vision” in the namby-pamby buzz-word sense of having a beautiful set of words on a plaque on a wall that nobody really cares about. […]

Helping Consumers Compare Solutions Will Lead Them To You

by Tony Vidler Todays consumers will compare before deciding who to use or what to buy, so help them do that. If you help consumers compare solutions well, it will lead them to choose you as their trusted source of advice. The typical buying behaviour for discerning consumers today includes “research & learn” as they […]

Nobody Believes Your Advice Is Actually Impartial AND Free

by Tony Vidler The problem with “FREE” is nobody believes that whatever you are offering is actually free. It might seem free in terms of there being no invoice or obvious price tag, but that doesn’t mean it is “free” does it? Consumers today are alert, have a world of information in their pocket […]

Create Video’s To Improve Your Client Service Experience

by Tony Vidler Most advisory firms don’t create videos of their own it seems. So, most advisory firms do not appear to have taken advantage of the consumer appetite for video, or how they can improve client service & experience (& efficiency) by creating their own videos. It seems they have not done so […]

Effective or Efficient? Which do Advisers need to be?

by Tony Vidler Which is more important when running an advice business: being effective or efficient? You chose Effective? Wrong. You chose Efficient? Wrong. The correct answer is that you have to balance both. In days gone by plenty of people in financial services could build a business just be being effective, regardless of how […]

How To Get Buy-In From Clients To Full Advice

by Tony Vidler Clients often want advisers to deal with just one element of financial planning…their current “burning issue” that triggered the need for advice to begin with. Getting them to engage in full advice can be tough and they need to understand what you CAN do for them, and where your knowledge and skills […]

New Ways To Lift The Game With Customers

by Tony Vidler Have you thought about rolling the dice and asking your customers what they would like you to provide? In professional services we are often reasonable at surveying our customers for satisfaction and service levels, and asking generic questions about how we can improve in those areas. More often than not though […]

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