What do you do?

An interesting article I read the other day challenged the Independent Financial Adviser to better describe what they do (rather than what they are- “I’m an IFA” – so what?).

The author posed 10 questions and it got me thinking.

Just like most people who don’t need electric drills, what they really need is holes, the IFA needs to describe what they do not what they are.

1 – Have we described the problems we solve?

Thinking it through our client’s problems really fall into one of three types (actually some of them fall into all three types).

They either lack the time to manage their money or they lack the inclination to manage their money themselves or they lack the skill and knowledge to manage their money.

Perhaps this is why we have a marketing approach which is that we “help individuals, trustees and business owners to build, manage and protect their wealth”.

2 – Have we explained the solutions that we provide to these problems?

Now here I felt we had a good answer.

Our corporate brochure and our “big picture” presentation go to great lengths to describe the solutions that we provide to the problems described above.

We do three things; we provide advisory services helping people to understand what action they need to take to deal with a particular set of financial circumstances; we provide financial planning services that answer the important questions about how much money a person needs to achieve the things that they want to achieve and we provide wealth management services helping people to invest their money in an appropriate fashion.

Unsurprisingly we call these three things Advisory, LifeWealth DesignTM and Wealth Management

3 – Have we described the types of people/clients we help?

As well as describing our client types as individuals, trustees and business owners we have also created a series of case studies that describe the type of client, in a composite fashion, that we have been able to help.

These case studies tell the story of the situation that they found themselves in, the implications of that situation, the particular needs that client had and the solutions that we identified for them.

4 – Have we described the criteria we look for when taking on a client?

It is a fact that we are not the right advisory firm for everyone. We try all the time to play to our strengths.

To some extent we are defined by the things that we don’t do as much as by the things that we do.

For example we don’t help people who are raising finance, or want to insure their car or home or even protect themselves against the cost of medical expenses.

But we go further to describe the type of client we want and that is someone who will work with us to get the right solutions.

We definitely want people who will ask us challenging questions. We worry greatly about people who don’t ask questions. Sure we are trustworthy, but we also want to ensure client understanding.

We do want people prepared to meet with us on a regular basis so that together we can map progress towards their financial planning goals.

5 – Have we described what results will be achieved when people engage with us?

This is very important. Of course what we cannot do is promise guaranteed investment returns (because no one can) and I would be very suspicious of someone who claimed they could time the investment markets.

We can however promise that we will review our client’s investment and retirement plans.

We can ensure that we keep them up to date on important changes that take place.

We can also make sure that they know that any questions at all should be directed to us.

If I was to summarise this I would say it is about that over used buzz word “empowerment” enabling people to feel in control and have the peace of mind that they are looking for.

6 – Have we explained why our clients experienced the problems we described above?

It is usually because a person creates their financial plan and buys their financial products peace meal over time. There tends to be a lack of intelligent design going on.

This is perhaps not surprising because as a life stage happens, getting married, having children, buying a house, changing jobs etc, the normal person simply responds to needs at that time.

Over time therefore a basket of financial products is accumulated and then when that person starts to think about the future and the goals they have that basket of products needs to be reviewed.

7 – Is it clear why clients choose us over other advisers?

I heard recently someone say that “all advisers claim to be different”. I suspect that this is because if someone has had a less than positive experience of advice then the next adviser wants to put clear blue water between them and the previous adviser.

But being different doesn’t tell us much unless that difference is positive.

The client isn’t looking at that point for hygiene factors, such as trustworthiness and honesty. They are looking for what extra value the adviser can bring to their possible relationship.

They choose us because we are experienced and have the expertise they are searching for. This is the combination of qualifications, experience and skill and when we bring all those to bear we can provide good outcomes.

I am told that they choose us for all the above but also because we are fun to deal with, we care about what we do, we communicate in plain English and as you would expect put our client at the centre of what we do.

Don’t become a client of Informed Choice for example if you object to coming into the office and finding one of my young grandchildren here, we are after all a family business, we have family values.

8 – How are we building confidence and proving that we are the right adviser to solve their problems?

Informed Choice Ltd is a firm of Chartered Financial Planners. Her Majesty’s Privy Council doesn’t give Chartered status to anyone.

Every year we test what it is that we do as a firm through an extensive process of due diligence on our business. It is known as the Gold Standard Awards.

The judges examine what we do under the headings of Financial Strength, Capability, Service, Fair Value and Trust.

We have won the Gold Standard Award for Independent Financial Advice five times. Each year we seek to get better.

9 – What free tips can we give people to help get them started straight away?

Each day we post a blog on our website www.icl-ifa.co.uk based on a topical news event. We want to help people understand these important issues.

We send out a weekly Ezine newsletter again designed to help people stay up to date.

These blogs and newsletters very frequently contain tips to ensure readers are moving in the right direction. It usually costs nothing to get some of the simple building blocks of financial planning in place.

For example have a budget, if you have debt make sure you have a schedule of debt repayment. Keep all of your financial papers secure and in an orderly fashion, get a state pension forecast if that applies to you.

None of these things cost anything other than a bit of time but all are important steps in keeping you in control.

10 – Have we invited people to make contact with us and given them a range of ways to do so?

Via the website, email, and phone people contact us every day. We are open, friendly and welcoming and want to help people any way we can.

We also want to make it easy for them to contact us.

After all we are a growing business and no business can grow without engaging with people.