Advisers urged to ‘seek more feedback’ from clients

In a new opinion piece published on ifa, Midwinter’s head of advice sales, Stacey Cowan, mentioned that planners should look at “the great resignation” as a “great reset” and consider how it can help their practice.  

In particular, Ms Cowan said advisers should seek more feedback from clients given that in a recent report issued by Midwinter earlier this year, clients rated their personal relationship with their adviser as their most valued attribute of the service. 

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“Yet only about one-quarter (26 per cent) of businesses formally sought feedback from their clients in 2021, down from about one-third (32 per cent) in 2019, according to the report,” Ms Cowan wrote. 

“Meanwhile, only one in four advisers said they were in touch with their best clients 10 or more times per year.   

“Even when advisers do seek information from clients, it is often not recorded systematically in their CRM. Less than 10 per cent are recording key relationship building data such as wedding anniversaries, children’s and grandchildren’s birthdays, or client interests.” 

Ms Cowan suggested that advisers integrate a CRM into their advice platform which can make for a “simpler process”. 

Read the full opinion piece here. 

Ms Cowan’s comments come after Morningstar Investment Management issued a white paper earlier this month which looked at the adviser-client relationship and what makes someone trust a financial adviser, outlining that “the best-interest standard is paramount”. 

“One attribute clearly rises above the rest: ‘When my adviser acts in my best interest.’ The overwhelming support for this attribute reiterates the importance of the fiduciary standard in advising,” the paper read.