Advice Processes Archives

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Improve your sales results with a quick “Kerbside Review”

by Tony Vidler One of the most effective ways to improve sales results is to spend 2 minutes on a reflective process after each client meeting – whether it was a good or bad one. It is the “kerbside review” (I know…USA spelling, but this concept did originate in America I believe!) If we […]

Deal or No Deal? Advice is that simple at the beginning. Really.

by Tony Vidler One of the greatest challenges for professionals working with complex ideas and products is to keep initial advice as simple as possible, without being patronising to the client or skipping the detail that compliance demands. After all, it takes great skill and careful thought to be able to simplify complex information […]

Segmentation: Why not have everyone as “A” Clients?

by Tony Vidler Segmentation of clients in your database is sensible, and some sort of labelling to differentiate them is necessary. The idea behind segmenting clients into different categories is to introduce efficiency into a practice while recognising that not all clients are of equal commercial value to the firm. It is also a way […]

10 Ways To Build Trust With Prospects

by Tony Vidler Trust is not given automatically by consumers. You have to build trust with prospects in todays market over time. That’s a reality. It is earned. The very best we can hope for when someone doesn’t really know us yet is to be trusted enough to be given a chance to prove ourselves. There […]

Good? Fast? or Cheap? What sort of advice is it going to be?

by Tony Vidler A few years ago a university in New Zealand conducted a study to find out where consumers were turning to for financial advice. At the time they found that the number one source of financial advice for most respondents was “newspapers and media”. For 29% of the population that was their […]

How to create a MORE effective client report

by Tony Vidler The typical financial planning report or statement of advice produced for clients is ineffective. An effective report gets the key points across as quickly and as simply as possible, so that the reader understands them, and is then able to make decisions relatively quickly and easily. It will engage, motivate and rapidly […]

To fix repeated problems, you need a process!

by Tony Vidler For financial advisory firms the word “process” has become synonymous with “best practice advice”, but good process is so much more than just a compliant and well-documented series of advice documents. Process cures problems. Process is what builds franchise businesses. Process is what creates turnkey operations that are highly valued […]

Advice Processes

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