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why financial planning clients leave the financial adviser
Client Twisting: Why clients move
by Tony Vidler        Clients move firms.  It is just a fact of life.  When they leave us most times we blame someone else…we call it “twisting” or “churning”. The immediate inference is the client only left because somebody else – who is less ethical – took perfectly good business and moved it for no […]
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Be Valuable By Simply Making Clients Lives Easier
by Tony Vidler        There are many ways to be valuable to clients, and a frequently overlooked aspect of value is simply maing clients lives easier for them.   A massive opportunity exists for advisers to remove complexity from their clients lives, and in turn, be valued for the advice and convenience they deliver to […]
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clients-you-don't-want
Some customers you don’t want
by Tony Vidler        Some customers you just don’t want, because not all customers are good customers for us.  Even some of those who look like they commercially viable customers we just don’t want.    There are some who can use our help..want our help…but that doesn’t mean they are good clients for us.  Most […]
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buying a financial planning business
What you need to know if you buy to grow
by Tony Vidler        As many advice businesses reach maturity it is common to consider whether they should “buy to grow”.  Should they buy another practice, or more commonly, should just buy a book of business from another practice.     The typical reasons suggested for wanting to grow through acquisition are: 1.  Get new […]
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road-ahead-for-advice-business
The uncertain road ahead for advice businesses
by Tony Vidler        One certain thing for advice businesses is that there is a huge amount of uncertainty.  Practice owners have had a lot of “alone time” in the last couple of years quietly contemplating the road ahead and trying to figure out what do they have to do to prepare, or adapt.   […]
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Innovation, not originality, is the key to better business.
by Tony Vidler        Everyone wants to grow their business, and everyone is looking for new ideas to do it.  But nearly everyone wants the magical original idea that nobody else has ever thought of before, that will guarantee results quickly.   Innovation is by definition original, but originality is not necessarily the same as […]
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merge-in-acquisition
Is Acquisition – or Merger – Worth It?
by Tony Vidler         Many firms facing increased overheads and infrastructure costs in the next few years are considering acquisition or merger strategies as a survival or growth strategy.   Generally there appears to be  5 main reasons that advisers suggest as their reasons for acquisition of another business.  They are:    1.  Get new […]
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Penny-Pinching In IT Is Madness
by Tony Vidler        Professionals keep getting their fingers caught in the trap of “penny pinching”, especially in IT. This is especially crazy when the IT is protecting the IP.   We know that there are many many areas where cheap actually becomes  expensive in the long-run, and nowhere is this more true in my […]
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Fix the prospecting problem forever
by Tony Vidler        You can fix all prospecting problems forever if you generate enough referrals.  It is that simple.  Get this right, and prospecting problems are non-existent, as the number one source of professional prospecting is going to be “word of mouth” for some time to come.   The theory on getting more refrrals […]
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growing-a-practice
Does “Growing” Really Mean “More Clients”?
by Tony Vidler        Just about every adviser says they want to be growing their business and need more clients….and they also want fresh ideas; the business satisfaction of solving new problems for new people; they want to do something NEW.   So they say they want more clients plus more interesting work plus more […]
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