Your IndustryApr 10 2018

Understanding what makes a good advice process

  • Understand the use of the first meeting and what this means for advisers.
  • Learn about the five steps of the advice process.
  • Grasp why first meetings should not be the focus of client/adviser interactions.
  • Understand the use of the first meeting and what this means for advisers.
  • Learn about the five steps of the advice process.
  • Grasp why first meetings should not be the focus of client/adviser interactions.
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CPD
Approx.30min
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CPD
Approx.30min
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CPD
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Understanding what makes a good advice process

For any purchase, there are myriad external influences to take into account within this process, which inform each stage every time we undertake it.

Who am I? What is my age, culture, religion, ethnicity and income?

Who are the people who influence me most? Am I currently happy, sad, laid back, in a hurry, with friends or alone?

The key influences on the process can be boiled down to the personal, psychological and social. Those influences will ultimately decide how we progress through any buying decision and decide whether we will make that decision again or not.

It’s worth analysing your last purchase of anything and seeing if you can break the model - you can’t. 

What does this mean for advisers?

Consider how your clients decided to engage your services.

Firstly, they didn’t decide to purchase financial advice for no reason. There must be a problem they have identified.

This could be something as obvious as the need for a retirement income after they have given up work, or as deep rooted as being unhappy that a friend or colleague has got a better return on their investments. They may have made a mess of a financial arrangement.

They may be confused or worried about their finances and are seeking peace of mind. 

A fundamental question for any advisory business is how well aligned you are with the buying process of your clients.

In the next stage of the process they might well have found several ways they could address this problem – through online research, asking friends and family, or reading newspapers.

They will then have evaluated whether or not what you offered was the best option and, having purchased your advice, they will definitely have made a judgement call about whether or not that was a good idea or not and if they would do it again. 

Your business and the buying process

A fundamental question for any advisory business is how well aligned you are with the buying process of your clients.

Consider all the ways in which your clients meet and experience your business and ask yourself if it is in good shape at every step of the way.

This is much more than concentrating on the ‘first meeting’.

It is concentrating on every interaction your business has with your clients, from before they ever meet you in person through to when they are established clients and they are making that post-purchase evaluation.

From working with over 3,000 directly regulated advisory firms, The SimplyBiz Group gets to see examples of shining best practice in the way advisers interact with their clients throughout the buying process for advice.

Problem recognition

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