Building bridges with the next generation (Part 1)

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This is the first instalment in a two-part article about expanding your client base into the next generation of younger clients, by accessing the children of your clients. In this first piece, we consider the challenge of gaining access to the children of clients. Next month we’ll look at how you make this work within your business.

For many established advisers who have been offering financial advice and solutions to their clients for many years, their challenge is that their clients belong to the same generation as themselves. These clients are moving towards retirement age, at which stage they will stop accumulating further assets, and in fact will start de-cumulating, through living off their ARFs and other investments built up during their working lives. And as their assets reduce, so does the remuneration of many advisers whose charges are based solely on asset values.

But an even bigger problem arises when these clients die. In the United States, it is estimated that children do not retain their parent’s adviser in 90% – 95% of cases after their parent’s death. This results in the adviser’s remuneration going immediately to zero. Is the figure likely to be significantly different in Ireland?

This is a shocking figure! Shocking because of the sheer size of the figure, but on the other hand the good news is that there is a lot that you can do to build solid relationships with the adult children of your clients.

 

Get to know them

First of all, make sure that your client’s children know who you are. Seek permission from your client to introduce yourself to them – not to hound them for business, but simply positioned so that their children have a recognised and friendly face in the event of the death of the parent. Your client will want their finances handled efficiently and as per their instructions. To assist in this, at this stage you are suggesting that their children should know,

  • Who you are
  • Where and how to contact you
  • The broad areas where you are helping their parents (obviously with the parent’s permission).

Should a death occur in the family, at least now you are a friendly face who has some chance of working collaboratively with the children of your deceased client, rather than some faceless organisation that the client doesn’t know, doesn’t trust and will be generally wary of dealing with.

 

Demonstrate your value from afar

Then when you are introduced to your client’s children, take the relationship very slowly. Look to add value by adding them to your ongoing communications networks, after first of all finding out which communication channels they want you to use. – depending on their preferences, look to add them to your email newsletter, connect with them on LinkedIn, follow them on Twitter etc. If you are hosting a relevant seminar, you should even consider suggesting to your clients that they bring one of their adult children along to it.

Now you have an opportunity to remind these adult children regularly of the value that you add to your clients (and their parents), and how in time you could also add value to them. Carefully chosen messages of the value that you add just might get them to contact you as a financial need arises in their own lives.

 

Include them (as appropriate) in their parent’s financial plans

This is obviously an area in which you need to tread carefully, but there may well be areas of a parent’s financial planning in which it makes sense to involve their adult children. As parents move towards the later stages of their lives, wealth transfer, estate planning and legacy building tend to become important areas for consideration.

While parents may not want to share every small detail of their financial situation with their children, some planning will make lives easier down the road.

Talk to your clients (and their adult children) about the importance of having a will. Talk all of them through the benefits of putting an enduring power of attorney in place. Build a partnership with a good solicitor who can put these in place for them.

Ensure your clients and their adult children understand the structure and implications of making gifts from a parent to a child and of Capital Acquisitions Tax. Make sure they are aware of the annual exemptions available so that they can avail of these exemptions whenever possible.

 

At the end of the day, you want the opportunity to demonstrate to the adult children of your clients that you really care about your clients, that their interests are paramount in everything that you do. They will see you a valuable, trusted adviser to their parents. And they will also see that you can carry out the same role for them too. And how you do this last piece will be covered in a follow-up piece next month.

What exactly is Lifestyle Financial Planning?

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We have seen quite a significant movement over the last few years of Financial Brokers extending the services they offer to their clients, through the delivery of lifestyle financial planning. While this service may not be suited to every client, or indeed you cannot justify delivering it to every client, the shift is happening. This is because of the value that lifestyle financial planning brings to people’s lives and because of the deeper and more engaged relationships that develop between the Financial Broker and the clients that it suits. So what is it all about?

 

What is lifestyle financial planning?

Lifestyle financial planning consists of four main phases, and each of them in turn are required. The four phases are

 

1. Discovery

This is the phase that gets skipped over the most, which is a shame as this is the most important of all of the stages. This is the phase where the planner finds out the lifetime goals and ambitions of their client, where the client can visualise the outcomes in their own terms – the type of life that they will lead, the possessions that they will own, the impact they will be able to have on the lives of others, what they will do and achieve in their lives.

Until you know the answer to these questions, what are you planning for? Just building a pot of money with no idea of what it will allow your client to do?

This phase is carried out by careful and well thought out questioning by you. And then listening intently. It is not “airy fairy”, instead it is the most important conversation that you will have with your client as you get to understand their hopes and dreams

 

2. Planning

This is where the planner then uses his/her expertise to develop the roadmap for the client to get from where they are today, to achieving the life they visualised in the discovery phase. This is generally a comfortable area for Financial Brokers, where you can utilise all of your experience and technical skills to develop a plan for your clients. As a result though of the comfort at this stage, some brokers rush to it without properly completing the discovery phase – when that happens, you are no longer carrying out lifestyle financial planning.

Important also to this phase is the use of future cashflow planning. Without it, it’s not really lifestyle financial planning. When using this process you can demonstrate to clients if they are on track to lead the life they visualised, and if not what they need to do to get on track. You can show them the impact of unforeseen events and how to plan for them, the impact of changing goals and of course the actions they need to carry out, or products they need to put in place to achieve the plan.

 

3. Implementation

The most straightforward of all of the phases and an area that Financial Brokers excel in. This is where you assist the clients in carrying out the required activities (e.g. budgeting, wills, power of attorney) and where you put the required financial products in place that will play a role in achieving the goals of the plan.

 

4. The ongoing journey

This is again a really important stage that sometimes doesn’t get enough attention. Regular contact and scheduled meetings sit at the heart of lifestyle financial planning. The ongoing interactions turn the plan into a real journey towards the client achieving their lifetime ambitions. They are the opportunity to review and restate / change goals, review the progress and performance of the actions and products that were implemented and keep the client on track in terms of their behaviours with their money and their investments.

Without these meetings happening as scheduled, it is akin to pushing a boat away from the harbour wall to sail the stormy seas alone… You need to be beside your client at every turn, helping them to navigate their way towards their dreams. These review meetings also give you the opportunity to stay close to your client, and to gently remind them of the incredible value that you are bringing to their life.

Equally importantly, having a robust and valuable ongoing service also enables you to justify your ongoing charges to the client.

This shift towards lifestyle financial planning is to be welcomed. It increases the value of Financial Brokers in the eyes of their clients, provides a richer client experience and builds value in your business through easier justified ongoing charges.

Is Future Cashflow Planning optional?

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I’m a huge fanboy of Future Cashflow Planning in general (and Voyant specifically) for 2 main reasons. Firstly when my own financial planner started using Voyant, it transformed our financial planning discussions. And I have also seen the hugely positive impact that Voyant has had on so many businesses around the country. I believe that it is a key factor in increasing the value of these businesses. Voyant is available to every adviser, so can any advisers really ignore it anymore? At this stage, I think it is no longer optional for advisers…

Most advisers are investing significant time and energy in improving your business. One of the rewards that you hope to reap from this investment is a more valuable business when you finally decide to exit. So how can future cashflow planning (FCP) help you to build value in your business?

 

It adds so much value to clients

Financial planners in Ireland, the UK and further afield have spoken to me at length of how FCP has enabled them to unlock new conversations with their clients, and to completely change the relationship. FCP enables them to really wrap their arms around their clients’ financial lives and build a financial picture of every year into the client’s future, right up to death.

This is very different to the traditional financial plan of simply identifying needs and plugging those needs with products…. And at the end of the day, a firm with higher value client propositions is a more valuable business than a firm of a similar size with a less developed client proposition. More value to clients = higher remuneration = higher firm value.

 

Future cashflow planning drives higher ongoing fees / trail commissions

Many financial planning firms are now offering different levels of ongoing service to different groups of clients. When examining these different service packages, access for the client to FCP is the key difference between the high value and low value service packages. So apart from FCP justifying significantly higher fees at the initial development of the financial plan, the ongoing updating of the future cashflow plan as a result of changes in client circumstances, investment markets etc. will enable advisers to charge higher ongoing fees. The beauty of Voyant is that the original plan is retained so the client’s growth story can be viewed year after year.

The main model still used today in valuing financial advice firms is the multiple of annual income model. So if FCP drives up your annual income, your firm is worth more.

 

Future cashflow planning drives stickier client relationships

One of the main benefits of using an FCP approach is how much more interesting it is from the client’s point of view. Instead of simply reporting on what happened in the markets in the past year ,the focus is future orientated. In fact the past becomes less important as the client buys into the financial plan more and more. How they are now positioned to meet their future financial goals becomes the only concern. The longer term orientation injects patience in investment decisions. Short term buoyancy becomes less important in comparison to the longer term vision. The software automatically gives a new picture every year of the client’s future financial outlook and is completely dynamic, updating the client’s picture in line with those changes. New information can be handled on the go interactively.

  • Does that new job and increased income make retiring early a possibility?
  • Can you afford to buy that holiday home in 5 years’ time… or maybe next year?
  • Can you afford to start gifting the maximum amount to your children this year?

Clients will come back year after year to learn more. Client retention is another key determinant of business value. Future cashflow planning builds client loyalty. Client loyalty builds business value.

 

So, if you want to really increase the value of your financial planning business, I believe that FCP is no longer optional for advisers.

 

Lessons from other industries – segmentation is the key

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Going back to my days in college, I can recall a number of the key marketing principles that were ground into me; the importance of research and knowing your customer, understanding buyer behaviour and the role of the four P’s (product, price, place and promotion) among others.

However in my day-to-day work with financial brokers today, the principles that I find myself returning to more and more to address your challenges are Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP). Many advisers today recognise the importance of these strategies as they attempt to make best use of their limited marketing resources, be they time or money or both.

There are also valuable lessons to be learned from how these principles are applied in other industries… but more about that in a minute.

 

Some definitions

So to start this 60-second marketing lesson, here is a definition of each, as set out by Philip Kotler, the grandfather of marketing education.

  • Market Segmentation: Dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers with different needs, characteristics or behaviour, who might require separate products or marketing mixes.
  • Market Targeting: The process of evaluating each market segment’s attractiveness and selecting one or more segments to enter.
  • Market Positioning: Arranging for a product (or service) to occupy a clear, distinctive and desirable place relative to competing products (or services) in the minds of target consumers.

 

What’s happening in the financial broker market in Ireland?

Many financial brokers realise that a “one size fits all” proposition just doesn’t cut it any more. Either for the client who is looking for more than a generic service, or for the adviser who cannot profitably or successfully deliver the same service to all clients irrespective of their value, characteristics, needs etc.

As a result, many advisers are undertaking segmentation exercises, analysing their client bases and potential markets, most often by value. Others are also segmenting but by different dimensions – some are focusing on SME’s, others on specific professional groups.

A smaller number are then going on to specifically target sub-sections of their client bases and target markets with specific propositions, while offering a different proposition to other groups of clients. Some are even offloading their lower value clients to only target their desired groups. Others are identifying specific occupations that they will target and also those that they won’t. And then sticking to this!

Finally, savvy advisers are taking that final step of actually positioning their business and their communications to appeal directly to their target markets, even at the risk of alienating other potential customers.

 

What can financial brokers learn from other industries? 

The best examples come from the airline industry. They make it very obvious that high value passengers get a superior service. They certainly don’t apologise for it! We see first class passengers enjoying benefits such as;

  • A pick up service to bring them to the airport
  • A fast track route through the airport
  • Waiting in a private lounge
  • An airline official at their beck and call to manage any issues that might arise
  • A shuttle service directly to the plane so that they don’t have to wait at all
  • Planes are sometimes even delayed to wait for a late 1st class passenger!
  • Even at the door of the plane – turn left for first class, turn right for economy.
  • And then you’ve all the on-board perks!

Now who wouldn’t start to feel a little special?

There are similar stories of exceptional services offered to loyal users of some of the world’s leading hotel chains – room upgrades, limousine services, free laundry, sourcing tickets for high demand events as well as in-room food and drink services. All to make you feel that bit special.

So what can a financial broker take from this?

 

Develop your service packages

Develop service packages for your business that reward clients depending on their value to your business. Make your high value clients feel really special, reward them for trusting you with their money by giving them a truly rewarding client experience. Build a moat around them and pull up the drawbridge from your competitors by providing a second to none service.

Let your mid-tier clients feel valued by your business, while at the same time making them aware that there is lots more you can do for them (if they are willing to pay for it).

And of course your no/low value clients will begin to realise that it’s a business you are running and that they don’t have 24/7 access to you. If they want access to superior service (ongoing advice from you), they pay. The same as when they book a flight or a hotel room.

 

Do you know which of your clients should turn left and which ones should turn right?

How do you approach increasing your fees?

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One of the areas of greatest challenge for financial planners in Ireland today is increasing the level of your fees / trail commission from the levels that you are currently charging. But time marches along, and often when you actually turn to really examining the issue, many advisers find that their charges haven’t increased at all in the last 10 years! There are very few other professions where this would be the case.

The comments that I hear are,

“It’s all well and good that UK & US advisers charge 1%, as their asset management fees are so low” 

and “You can’t charge more than 0.25% / 0.5% p.a. (or fees of €1,500 / €2,000 p.a.) and justify it”.

However, there are growing numbers of Irish advisers that do charge more and their clients happily pay more. So how do they do it?

 

Their proposition stacks up

Please note, this article is not about the merit of trail v fees, that’s a whole other conversation! For the purpose of this article, I’m simply going to call them both fees.

Advisers that attract higher levels of fees tend to have superior propositions. They have put a lot of time and energy into really thinking through their client proposition and the value that clients experience from working with their firm. There’s no grey in the proposition – they are crystal clear about all of the value areas.

When this work is done properly, very quickly all of the new areas of value that you provide become apparent, and you see where your proposition has grown and how you provide more value today than you did when your fees were set. All of this added value at no extra cost (currently)…

Once you start to clearly identify these areas of additional value, you’ve taken the first step to increasing your fees.

 

They actively communicate their value

This is often the area of biggest challenge, particularly with existing clients. Actually having that conversation with a client about the value being added. It’s always easier just to talk to the client about their financial plan, their cashflows and their policies – it all feels a bit “American” to have a chat about the value being added!

But if you don’t have this conversation, all you can do is cross your fingers and hope your clients see the value they are getting…

This conversation has to be highly structured (by you) and very well practiced. You need to be able to clearly demonstrate that you’re not just “winging it”, hoping to increase your fees on a case by case basis. Instead by clearly articulating the services that you provide, the value derived from them and the cost of them, clients can see what they are getting for their fees.

From experience, this tends to work best when advisers offer multiple (2 or 3 usually) service packages. The higher value packages show the increased services being offered for the higher fee levels. Also if a client is not willing to pay a higher fee level, they clearly see the services that they won’t be getting.

 

They justify their fees

The communication is critical, but a slick sales pitch is not enough! Advisers who charge higher fees clearly justify those higher fees. This is achieved through providing a range of evidence,

 

  1. A statement of financial improvement is where you demonstrate to your client the actual € value of your advice – this might be in a net worth statement, portfolio increase, tax saved, costs saved or other such metrics
  2. A client calendar of all the interactions that you carried out with / for them over the last 6 or 12 months such as the meetings you had, the phone conversations, the newsletters you sent them and the events you invited them to etc. Not forgetting of course the updates to their plan and cashflows, the portfolio rebalancing and ad-hoc service requests.
  3. Timesheets are provided by some advisers to demonstrate the level of work carried out on the client’s behalf and providing a justification of fees in the process.

 

When you start pulling all of these strands together, it can seem like a lot of work to be undertaking. However the prize is huge! You will quickly realise the value you’re adding and this will give you increased confidence to have that conversation about higher fees with your clients. They see the fantastic value they are getting from working with you, while you earn more in the process. A win-win situation!

 

How will you grow your business?

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What’s the question I’m most frequently asked by both prospective and existing clients? It is “How can you help us grow our business”. Of course, there’s no one simple solution or silver bullet for this one, instead there are a number of different strategies and tactics available to you…

Before we help advice firms decide and implement the right approach for them, we carry out a very detailed analysis of your business. It’s very important that you choose your preferred strategy with your eyes wide open as to its suitability for your business in terms of a number of factors such as,

  • The new client opportunities open to you
  • Your appetite and desire to network, both online and offline
  • Your appetite to potentially develop new qualifications, services and new areas of expertise
  • Your appetite and expertise to undertake different marketing activities
  • The budget and resources available to you

 

You need to start by understanding where your strengths are and how you can best utilise them. While of course the grey quadrant looks the most attractive, it is not going to be the right strategy for many firms! So, it is worth taking a look at each of the quadrants in turn.

 

Retain

This is of course the most passive of all of the strategies, and it could be argued that it is not really a growth strategy. Maybe it’s a “prevention of loss” strategy? But it is a very important minimum approach for every firm. This entails meeting the needs of your existing clients on an ongoing basis, providing them with the advice, support and service that you promised to them at the outset of your relationship with them. This includes providing the level of service that they can reasonably expect from you, and that allows you to fully justify the income you earned already from them, and the ongoing income that you continue to earn.

While this may appear too passive to some, this is a strategy that may make sense for advisers coming towards the end of their career. Your business may have delivered the lifestyle that you wanted over the years, with the final task being to retain your book of clients with a view to selling it in the not too distant future.

 

Grow your client book

This is the more traditional approach, coming from an era when an adviser’s income was generated largely by initial commission. While of course new clients are still very important to every business, they are not the single driver of success that they used to be. If we look back 20 or 30 years in the financial advice sector, ongoing service to clients played a much lesser role and resulted in very low levels of ongoing income. As a result, businesses survived by a constant stream of new clients. And this in turn resulted in advice firms having lots of “transaction based” client relationships, as opposed to the deeper client relationships that we see today.

Of course there are many firms continuing to pursue a client acquisition strategy today, constantly seeking to bring new clients on-board and looking to grow their overall client numbers. For the networkers / rainmakers among you, this may be the strategy for you. It’s hard, because you need to be constantly “out there”. But if your skill set is in this area (and not necessarily in the areas as set out below) and you have the right supports around you, this may be your preferred approach.

One of the downsides of this approach is with less of a focus on ongoing services, you cannot command the same levels of ongoing remuneration and as a result this will dampen future valuations of your business. This also requires a higher marketing spend, as you attend events, entertain prospects, advertise and carry out sponsorships to raise awareness of your brand and undertake other client acquisition strategies.

 

Increase Income per Client

This is the area today where I spend most of my time with my adviser clients. Under our “Getting to 1%” programme, we pose the valid question – Why and how do advisers in other developed markets (and some advisers in Ireland) charge an ongoing fee / trail commission of 1% of assets, while in Ireland it’s typically 0.25% to 0.5% p.a.?

The answer lies in having a client proposition that justifies higher income levels and then being able to communicate that effectively. This takes significant effort, thought and work. It may take higher levels of qualifications, new skills and broadening out the services that you provide. We see this in financial advice firms today evolving into financial planning firms. These firms are developing much deeper relationships with clients through providing lifestyle financial planning, with future cashflow planning being a core element of this. This takes investment in your business, time and effort to develop the required technical skills and capabilities. And then you have to be able to communicate it all effectively across all platforms. Some advisers who are in this quadrant are actually seeking to reduce the number of clients overall. This is typically where they are trying to shed transactional clients who are not open to deeper relationships.

The payback for advisers who successfully carry out this strategy is immense. The same (or lower) number of clients, but now generating multiples of the level of income that you were previously getting.

 

Grow Clients and Deepen Services

Is this nirvana? From my experience this happens as a result of successfully occupying the green quadrant – increasing income per client. Where advisers offer an excellent client proposition and are communicating it very effectively, referrals just happen because your clients love what you do and talk about it. So some of these firms in the green quadrant end up in the grey, because new “perfect” clients from your target markets come looking for your services. Isn’t this the best place to be?