Your IndustryMay 28 2015

Handing clients over

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Clients value the personal touch. Nobody likes turning up for an appointment and finding the organisation they valued is no full of strange faces.

If you are retiring then Dominic Rose, acquisitions director of Bellpenny, says it is most likely that they will ask you to effect face to face handovers of your clients to the new advisers taking over the clients.

If you are joining the consolidator then they will ask you to ensure all clients are bedded into the new company, he adds.

Mr Rose says: “If you have a team of advisers that are joining then they would expect you to ensure they all transfer willingly.”

In his experience, Bellpenny’s Mr Rose says what works best is telephone calls to key clients (as many as possible) advising them of what is happening and reassuring them about the change in ownership.

This should be followed up with two letters to the client explaining in more detail what has happened to your business and why you have chosen this route.

He says the first should come from the business owner who is selling and then the second should come from the consolidator with the contents of the two being ‘joined up’.

The letters should be followed up with a face to face meeting with the client to either introduce the new financial planner or (if the seller is remaining) to introduce the new company and detail the benefits to the client of the transaction.

Mr Rose says: “What clients need more than anything during this process is reassurance and clear, concise communication.”

Simon Chamberlain, chief executive of Succession Group, says ultimately for any deal to work you must make sure your clients are happy to be sold to another company.

If your clients would not be happy to be taken to an organisation that is taking them from whole of market advice to restricted, then perhaps you may need to think again.