Client reviews
G'day All There is always a lot of focus on new client engagement and SOA production. Given most practices have way more ongoing clients than new, how are you finding the process of arranging review meetings and preparing review documentation? Could this area and the report we provide clients at review time do with some focus?Advice Request Best Practice
What is seen as the best practice for advisors sending through a request for advice to be prepared to the paraplanning team? I can think of some ways using cases to have a task where the advisor completes templated notes, but most businesses that I've seen the requests are still sent via email to the paraplanning manager/senior paraplanner who then delegates the work. I imagine a wizard could be used too, but ideally we want the process to be straight forward, including detail on strategy and product recs (or considerations). I'm curious as to what works well for both new advice requests as well as SoAA/RoA processes.
Tracking Client Progress
How do you track clients progress over time? We sometimes put together a report showing the balance, withdrawals and contributions each year. This helps to show how the clients portfolio grows over time. However we're doing this manually and it's time consuming. Is there any automated way to do with? Any reports built into Xplan? Do you have any other good ways to show clients their progress? It would be especially good if there was a way to link it to their goals.The struggle for adviser capacity
These days, we see advisers doing more administration work than we saw 5 or 10 years ago. Research, plan requests and even application forms are unnecessarily taking up their time and stifling capacity. And this is not simply due to more compliance. So what's driving the hesitation to hand-over to a support role? Is it finding the right support? A lack of trust? Or something else?Virtual office, what are your thoughts?
Back in 2020, we were forced to close our office due to Covid and the many lockdowns that Melbourne had. We quickly had to mobilised the team of 10 at that time to work from home, fortunately we predominately use M365 and Xplan, with any other software being 100% cloud based, hence no server issues, which made life a little easier. Later that year we made the decision to give up our office and work virtually. Many advisers said to me that it wouldn't work for them due to their client base being older, they still say it. I would like to challenge the thinking around that, we focus on pre and post retirees, who are usually the least tech savvy of any age group, but whilst they like to sometimes see us in person for coffee or lunch, the majority of the work we do is all via video, email and phone, after all they all learnt to facetime their grandkids during covid. Our business has grown in people, clients and revenue over the past 3.5 years since we have been 100% virtual, yes it's been a lot of work, trial and error, but it can work, if you want it to. I'd love to hear from others who have gone virtual and what has worked best for you, your team, your business and your clients?How do you stay focused on the right client?
I think the best of us get sidetracked into helping people with their challenges, especially when that's what we've had training and experience in. I'm curious about how other advisers, or even business owners "stick to their knitting"? It's so easy to say "yes" to someone especially if things are a bit quiet but what tips and tricks do you use to say "no" to stay focussed? mat.tenison3 jenny.brown deborah.kent What to do if a referral isn’t right for you | AdviselyHow much 'say' does your client have?
When running your advice business, you've got these three main things to juggle: People, Process, and Price. You assemble a team (people), figure out your approach (process), and set your rates (price). But here's the real-world question: How much say do you give your clients in choosing or amending your model? Do you allow them to choose who they work with, how they want things done, and what they pay? What are your absolute deal-breakers, and how do you handle clients who want things done their own way?How do you nurture a PY adviser's growth?
I recently shared in a blog here the importance of developing a strong Professional Year (PY) adviser program—from setting clear expectations to encouraging a true sense of ownership over their work. I’d love to hear how everyone is putting these ideas into practice. What’s been your biggest success in mentoring a PY adviser? How do you handle challenges like balancing oversight with giving the freedom to learn? What advice would you give to someone just beginning to work with a new PY adviser? What's been a barrier for you in taking on a PY adviser? I would also love to hear from PY advisers too and your first-hand experience of going through the program! It would be great to swap strategies, share stories, and help each other shape the next generation of our profession. It was a learning curve for us, especially as we are a virtual office, I'd love to see more growth in PY's, so happy to help if I can.🤓Xplan Hint: When your file notes need a new home
Did you know that you can move file notes between entities? We still hear (to our collective horror) about users moving file notes between entities by copying and pasting. But there’s a much quicker way! In the file note’s ‘Related’ tab, just click on the Add button to add other entities, and use the chain link button to link/unlink the note from any entity.
