Servicing clients came out top of an immediate business issues ranking of one to five in the survey, with 21 per cent ranking it number one concern.
It was the second biggest worry for 17 per cent as the second biggest issue, while 14 per cent ranked it third.
Clipping at its heels was efficiency and profitability, with 41 per cent ranking it from one to three, and 38 per cent doing the same for the issue of attracting new clients.
Doug Bennett, owner of one-man band DB Financial, said client servicing was very tough and segmentation was crucial.
He said: “There is a degree of trying to do it as humanely as possible. Most of the time you are chasing the income so it is very difficult to sit down with a client and service them well as an individual.”
To tackle the profitability and client servicing issues the CoreData research showed just more than a third of advisers were taking initial commissions, and approximately one in five were charging upfront fees. Trail commission was a stream of income for a prominent quarter of survey respondents.
Overall 21 per cent of advisers expected revenues to decrease, while 19 per cent expected to stay the same and an optimistic 59 per cent believed revenues would increase.
Mr Bennett was not too concerned about income stream and profitability because he had a really good cash reserve to back him up.
He explained 40 per cent of income stream came from initial commission on protection business, adding: “It has been a really tough year but we are working hard and we are definitely getting there.”
