Advice Processes

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How to take the “R” out of FREE Advice
by Tony Vidler        Traditionally the financial services sector has been almost entirely remunerated via commission, and many advisers are still grappling with the basic question of how to make the transition – even if only in their minds – from working solely on commissions to charging clients directly for advice and/or service. Consumers perceived […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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How do you know your financial advice is suitable?
by Tony Vidler        Knowing that your financial advice is suitable for a client is something that every professional adviser is willing to attest to, but proving it when challenged can be incredibly dificult. Advisers are increasingly being challenged and therefore seeking assurance that their practices are robust and will withstand such scrutiny.  Whether that scrutiny […]
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SOA
A Statement Of Advice should be a “statement”
by Tony Vidler        When it comes to providing advice in writing to a client there is undoubtedly unnecessary complexity usually.  In fact the proverbial “Statement Of Advice” has become anything but a “statement”.  It generally takes the form of a tome… And a “tome is a scholarly work…usually large, heavy and laborious in its detail“. […]
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Professional Triage: Targeting The Immediate Need
by Tony Vidler        A huge mistake many advisers make is trying to deliver comprehensive advice to a client concerned only with an immediate need.  We need to recognize when triage is required, as opposed to when ongoing nursing is needed. The immediate need is the more often the trigger for an advice client to coluntarily […]
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Not All Customers Are Good Advice Clients
by Tony Vidler        “All customers are good advice clients”…or are they? Robo-advisers, direct marketing, 24/7 online transaction facilities, product kiosks and over the counter solutions to shoppers at supermarkets…these are all “financial advice” choices for consumers today.  (for “Financial Advice” read “anything associated with a financial services product or service which may or may […]
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Maybe the client IS the problem
by Tony Vidler        What you think is the problem is not always actually the problem.  Sometimes the person is the problem. Sometimes, maybe, the client is the problem rather than you. Before talking about clients though allow me to use a non-client example.  Picture the scene: a partner in a practice is telling me about […]
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Compliant Advice: Here are the only 3 things that matter
by Tony Vidler         Whenever the topic of compliance, or the “advice process”, comes up most advisers see themselves like this: Everyone is throwing everything at you with the sole intention of destroying you, right? As a consequence, compliance is largely considered a burden.  As is usually the way of these things a substantial body […]
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The 5 Levels Of Professional Competence
by Tony Vidler        Professional competence is now a clearly demonstrable thing isn’t it? Or is it?  Can an adviser be considered as having competence and incompetence simultaneously? I think so. Competence has been a primary focus of regulatory reform, and that’s fair enough.  Consumers have a right to expect it from their advisers and […]
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