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Our Service Awards questionnaire has now been published and it indicates two important markers in the personal finance calendar.

First, it is the starting shot for the most important event in the year for our sector, the prestigious and much-sought after FA Service Awards; and, sadly, it also brings out the worst in some people and companies.

Already we have been getting reports of financial advisers being pressured in to voting for certain companies. We have even been told, and not for the first time, of broker consultants and business development managers being tasked with getting maximum votes as a key performance indicator for their annual bonuses, which is great.

We are flattered that firms should treat our awards as of such commercial and reputational importance. But we prefer our awards to be won by fair means – good design, transparency and most of all first class service.

To attempt to bypass this in order to win an award may seem smart as a short-term device, but the real medium and long-term damage to their business will be ignoring their poor service while putting all their energies in to short-circuiting the normal process.

Of course, the vast majority - indeed the overwhelming majority - of advisers are decent, honest, fiercely independent people who guard their independence with a vengeance.

Equally, the majority of life, mortgage, pensions and investment providers operate not only within the letter of the rules for awards such as ours, but equally within the spirit. It is the small minority who are prepared to cut corners and break rules who run a risk of bringing the entire sector in to disrepute.

This is not just an issue for the FA Service Awards, however prestigious, but are the very principles underlying the FSA’s retail distribution review, particularly the issues around commission versus fees, but also that of professionalisation of the sector.

By all means, please remind financial advisers to vote, but please do not offer any private incentives to get them to vote for any one firm.