How to address more of your clients’ needs

Speaking as part of the WoWcrowd virtual conference, Macquarie head of accounting and financial services for business banking Eli Glotzer said a sustained shift had occurred across the industry over the past few years as previously “single-discipline” practices realised they had to offer more to their clients.

“I think if you go back 10 to 15 years ago a lot of practices were single discipline – they were focused on one thing they did really well, whether it be tax advice, wealth advice, risk advice,” Mr Glotzer said.

“Firms have really changed over the years and a number are moving into that multi-disciplinary space and delivering a number of services.”

However, Mr Glotzer said practice principals did not need to get caught up in the idea of being a jack of all trades, with strong referral partnerships being equally effective at ensuring all of a client’s financial needs were met.

“I don’t necessarily think you have to have it all under one roof,” he said.

“Whilst we see a number of firms doing that, when we think about single discipline firms, in order for them to compete with multi discipline practices, I think it’s important they are clear on what their service proposition is and how they manage those other services through other providers.

“Whether it be really strong referral relationships, the way they introduce the client to those other firms, but just make sure the client’s actually having a seamless experience – I think that’s the critical part rather than owning it all in-house.”

Myprosperity chief technology officer Stephen Jackel agreed that while it was a “no-brainer” advice firms should strive to service a client’s holistic financial needs, they also needed to take stock of situations where they could add value and where services may be better left to other professionals.

“Firms are realising they need to start with that conversation of what’s important to the client, and from that it’s obvious that to solve those things and get the client to move forward in different areas needs a team, it’s not just one person,” Mr Jackel said.

“A number of firms have tried to solve this by saying we’re going to have everything under one roof and that’s great, but in fact it’s mostly about how do I create the team around someone to achieve success, and whether that means reaching out to one of the best people in this area to pull them in at the right time to solve some things.

“It’s about building up those connections and that community around that client to get them to succeed.”