Intergenerational planning is not only about the financial and logistical aspects of wealth transfer but also about building a deep, trusted relationship between the advisor and the entire family. Here’s why focusing on the advisor-family relationship is crucial:

1. Building Trust Across Generations

• Strengthened Advisor-Client Relationships: By working with multiple generations, advisors become a trusted figure for the whole family, ensuring continuity in financial planning.
• Reduced Fear of Transition: Family members are more likely to retain the same advisor after wealth transfer if they already trust them.

2. Understanding Family Dynamics and Goals

• Customised Plans: Advisors who know the family as a whole can create tailored strategies that respect both individual and collective goals.
• Facilitating Communication: By serving as a neutral third party, advisors can mediate sensitive discussions, ensuring everyone’s voice is heard.

3. Proactive Succession Planning

• Continuity of Vision: Advisors who know the family’s long-term goals can guide successors (e.g., children or grandchildren) effectively when taking over responsibilities.
• Preparation for Transition: Regular engagement helps prepare younger generations to take on wealth management responsibilities.

4. Educating Future Generations

• Financial Literacy for Heirs: Advisors can mentor younger family members, teaching them about investments, budgeting, and financial stewardship.
• Promoting Accountability: This ensures the next generation is ready to responsibly manage inherited wealth.

5. Strengthening Client Retention

• Generational Retention: Without a strong relationship, wealth often leaves the advisor after the first generation. A strong family relationship helps retain clients even after wealth transitions to younger members.
• Lifelong Support: Advisors who are involved in all stages of family life become indispensable.

6. Enhancing the Family Legacy

• Holistic Planning: Advisors can align the family’s financial strategy with philanthropic, educational, or business goals that reflect shared values.
• Ensuring Harmony: Strong advisor-family relationships reduce the risk of disputes that could disrupt the legacy.

By fostering genuine connections with the entire family, advisors position themselves not just as financial professionals but as long-term partners in achieving and preserving the family’s vision.

If you’d like to chat more, feel free to get in touch with me at Fusion Business Management

Website – https://fusionmanagement.co.uk/

Email – Paul@fusionmanagement.co.uk

Family Highlights

1. Growing Our Family

This year has been especially significant for my family as Lucy and I prepare to welcome our second child in December. The anticipation of becoming parents to two has brought a mix of excitement and preparation. Watching Hunter grow and evolve into his role as a soon-to-be big brother has been heartwarming—his curiosity and energy never fail to brighten our days.

2. Celebrating Love and Stability

Reflecting on our marriage last year in Cyprus, 2024 has been a beautiful continuation of building a strong foundation as a family unit. Lucy’s unwavering support has been instrumental in navigating the busyness of this year.

Professional Achievements

1. Leading and Developing Teams

In my role as a practice manager, 2024 has been a year of building upon the skills I’ve developed over the past two years. I’ve had the privilege of working closely with clients, helping them navigate challenges, fostering growth, and achieving their business goals. Seeing my clients succeed and thrive has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my professional life this year.

2. Overcoming Challenges

Every year comes with its unique hurdles, and this one was no different. Balancing personal and professional commitments—especially with the demands of preparing for a new baby—taught me valuable lessons in time management and prioritisation. These experiences have only reinforced my belief in the importance of adaptability and resilience.

3. Looking Ahead in My Career

As the year ends, I have a clearer vision for the future of my career. My passion for helping business owners improve and strengthen their businesses has only deepened, and I’m eager to continue creating impactful strategies. In 2025, I look forward to further contributing to my organisation’s success and expanding the client base.

Personal Growth and Reflections

1. Embracing Balance

Between work, family, and personal interests, finding balance has been a consistent theme this year. Sports continue to be a passion of mine, providing an outlet for stress and a way to stay connected with friends. Whether it’s watching or participating, sports remain a grounding force in my life.

2. Lessons Learned

This year reminded me of the importance of appreciating the present. Life with a young family moves quickly, and taking the time to savour the small moments—like playing with Hunter or quiet evenings with Lucy—has been invaluable.

Looking Ahead to 2025

As 2025 approaches, I’m filled with anticipation for the changes and opportunities it will bring. Welcoming a new baby will undoubtedly reshape our daily lives, but I’m eager to embrace the joy and challenges that come with growing our family. Professionally, I’m committed to continuing my growth as a leader and exploring new ways to support my clients and organisation.

My goals for the year ahead include:

– Successfully navigating the transition to life as a family of four.

– Continuing to prioritise work-life balance.

– Expanding my skill set as a practice manager and taking on new challenges in my role.

Closing Thoughts

As I look back on 2024, I am grateful for the support and love of my family, the camaraderie of my colleagues, and the lessons that came with each challenge. This year has reinforced the importance of resilience, adaptability, and staying true to what matters most. Here’s to an exciting and fulfilling 2025—for myself, my family, and everyone who has been part of my journey this year.

Here are seven of Rory’s top tips to enhance your client relationships today.

1. Embrace the explore-exploit trade-off

Rory explained what we can learn from the behaviour of bees, and how that can be applied to your business. Hives that have scout bees and explore new opportunities survive longer than those that don’t because they use the resources available to them more efficiently.

Rory said, “If you don’t invest in exploration, you become over-optimised and trapped in a local maximum… you become obsessed with exploiting what you know, not with discovering what you don’t yet know.”

So, encourage innovation within your financial services firm. Allocate time and resources to exploring new strategies and services, ensuring you stay ahead of industry changes and client needs.

2. Highlight the role of intangible value

As Rory explained, you can generate value simply by curating an experience that makes people look at something that already exists in a more favourable light.

Emphasise the intangible benefits of your advice in client communications, such as peace of mind and financial security. This can create a stronger emotional connection and help your clients understand the non-financial benefits they’ll get from working with you.

A great way to show this off is with testimonial videos of your clients sharing their experience and how you’ve helped them. Get in touch with us at hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk to explore how we can help you collect these.

3. Simplify financial jargon

Rory points out, “We’ve been trained at school to think linearly, and [the] compounding effect takes us by surprise.”

Rory believes that because things are advertised on the basis of their APR, it can understate the compounding effect of saving, borrowing, and the like.Using clear, jargon-free language to explain complex financial concepts will ensure your clients fully understand your advice by breaking down information into simple, relatable terms.

Understanding the options available to them in simple terms makes clients feel more empowered to make a decision that’s right for them, and it reinforces your expertise.

Win-win!

4. Use positive framing

One thing Rory advises to build your client base is to, “Find a little negative to flip into a positive.”

This sentiment is something that we champion at Yardstick.

Understand what keeps your prospects awake at night -­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ their financial concerns – and explain how working with a financial planner can alleviate their worries and provide confidence for their future.

5. Enhance trust through transparency

One of the barriers to people taking financial advice/planning and experiencing the benefits that you offer is a lack of trust in the profession.

Rory explained, “There is a famous thing called the paradox of choice, which is that there are so many financial entities competing for your attention that you become blinded by the headlights and end up doing nothing.”

Educating clients on which choices would suit their individual circumstances, and regularly updating them on their financial status, promotes a deeper relationship.

As well as clients experiencing the paradox of choice for financial products, prospects face it when looking for the right financial adviser and planner for them. To stand out from competition and engage more prospects, you can foster a trusting relationship by being transparent about your services and fees.

6. Provide psychological wealth management

Rory fondly remembered a quote he once heard, “Wealth is what you’re left with after you lose all your money.”He wholeheartedly agrees with this and shared that what he values about his own financial adviser is their conversations surrounding wider life goals.

He suggests supporting your clients to reframe their understanding of wealth and not just helping them become rich, but also helping them live richly.

By asking philosophical questions about your clients’ aspirations, you can offer advice that enhances their overall happiness and quality of life beyond financial accumulation, showing that you care about all aspects of their wellbeing.

7. Capitalise on technological capabilities

Rory enthused about technology and encouraged all financial advisers and planners to capitalise on the value it can provide to clients and prospects.

He reckons Zoom is the perfect medium for the profession, stating, “There are all these virtues of the Zoom call, which means it’s just the right amount of interpersonal action for financial services purposes.”

Rory also recommends investing in good quality equipment for your Zoom setup to deliver a more professional experience to your clients.

It doesn’t stop at virtual meetings though. You can connect further with your clients in innovative ways such as sharing YouTube videos from captivating and qualified content creators in the profession.

Build stronger client relationships with us

Implement Rory’s insights to create a client experience that stands out, attracts prospects, and fosters long-term loyalty and satisfaction among your existing clients.

You can watch more great webinars like Rory Sutherland’s and access comprehensive marketing content on our website.

Subscribe to The Yardstick Agency newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn to improve your marketing today.

Written by Emily Lang at The Yardstick Agency.

However, with more than 17,000 UK-based financial advisers/planners on LinkedIn as of May 2024, there’s also plenty of competition.

And, once you know that this figure has grown by 6,000 since June 2023, it can be easy to assume the competition is too high, and there’s no point in trying.

However, keep in mind that there are over 28,000 active financial advisers and planners in the UK. So, if you’re on LinkedIn, you’re already one step ahead of thousands of people in your profession as long as you’re using it effectively.

Much like the competition didn’t stop you from embarking on a career in financial services, the number of online peers shouldn’t deter you from spending time and effort on LinkedIn.

Your profile needs to be impressive because:

1. Potential clients and professional connections will visit it (either by accident or design)

2. Google will index it, so it will appear in their search results

3. You’re up against a lot of competition!

So, where do you start? Keep reading to learn how to ensure your personal profile is effective, stands out from the crowd, and impresses potential clients.

1. Profile URL

We recommend having your name hyphenated with your business name i.e. “phil-bray-the-yardstick-agency”.

For starters, the hyphens make the URL more readable. Most importantly, if somebody searches for you or your business, either on LinkedIn or Google, the chances are that they’ll find your profile fairly high up in the search results.

It’s also more memorable than the ugly string of default letters and numbers LinkedIn will have auto-assigned you when the account was made, and looks more elegant when you share your URL.

2. Name

Similar to your profile URL, make yourself easy to find by changing your name on your profile to something more identifiable. With over 39.7 million LinkedIn users in the UK alone, it’s possible that there is another profile with the same name as yours.

Yes, people can filter by job title, but you can make yourself easier to find by adding your specialism after your name. Mine, for example, is “Phil Bray ➡️ Financial Services Marketing Specialist ⬅️”.  

That way, whenever someone tags you in a post or comment, potential clients will understand exactly how you can support them, without even viewing your profile.

Have you gone for letters on the end of your name, such as DipPFS? Unless your prospects are in the financial services profession, it might take a Google search to figure out what that means, so pick something in plain, easy-to-understand English.

3. Picture

Put a face to your name – what’s more identifiable than your picture?

Your profile picture should communicate who you are and portray your professional image. It should be high-quality, not blurry or pixelated, so it’s best to use a camera, but most new smartphones will do the job too.

Wear the same thing in your profile picture as you would to meet your clients or professional connections. It offers continuity to their digital and in-person experiences with you, and builds rapport when they see that you’re the same person you present yourself to be online.

As we said earlier, people buy from people, so having a picture adds a level of trust that a default silhouette simply can’t. LinkedIn says you’ll receive 21 times more profile views than those without a picture. Need we say more?!

4. Banner

One of the first things people see when they click on your profile is your banner – the image that sits behind your profile picture. Many people either don’t change it from the default, or pick something pretty but completely ineffective. Both choices are a huge missed opportunity.­­

Here’s what you should include:

• Social proof

This can be as simple as adding the Google reviews widget showing how many reviews you have and how many stars. For example, as you can see below, mine says “180+ 5-star Google reviews”.

Or you could have your VouchedFor rating widget on there… even better if you’re a Top Rated Adviser!

The point is, you need something from an independent, unbiased third-party showcasing evidence of the support you give to your clients and professional connections.

• A snappy statement explaining what you do and who you do it for

This should be short and to the point. Outline what support you can provide for the audience you’re trying to attract through LinkedIn. Ours stands out in bold at the top of our banner image below – “Marketing excellence for the financial services profession”.

• Contact details

Although you have a dedicated contact section on LinkedIn (which should also be filled in), not everybody is going to make it there. So, your banner image needs to display:

1. Your telephone number
2. Your website address
3. Your email address.

See how we’ve incorporated these elements into our LinkedIn banner here.

5. Headline

Your headline is prominently displayed below your profile picture and appears next to your name in the search results. So, it’s important you get it right.

Most people default to just adding their job title, but this is another missed opportunity. We’d recommend updating it to something more descriptive and creative.

You should explain:

• What you do
• Who you do it for
• Why people work with you.

For example:
“Financial Planner and Founder of [insert firm name here] | Independent financial planning for business owners and senior executives in Nottingham | VouchedFor Top Rated Adviser in 2024 🏆.”

But you can be even more creative than that if you have something time-sensitive you’d like to promote. In late April/early May, I updated mine to “Book your place on our next FREE webinar: Everything you need to know about client surveys in 2024 | 10 am Wednesday 22 May | Click the link below to book ⬇️”.

6. About section
The about section can be seen as an extended version of your headline. We’d suggest using YayText to insert bold and italic text and emojis to highlight key points and make the all-too-familiar block of text more readable.

These tools and techniques mean visitors to your profile will take away key information even if they just skim-read this section.

Take a look how I’ve done this in my about section here.

7. Featured section

You can use the featured section to pin important content to your page, showcasing things you’re especially proud of.

This could be a LinkedIn post, a page from your website, a link to an award win, or a press piece. It could also be social proof in the form of a client testimonial video demonstrating the value of financial planning, or even a link to your newsletter sign-up page on your website.

We’d suggest having no more than three pieces of content in your featured section. Once you add more than that, your visitors will have to scroll to see the additional material and, in our experience, they just won’t.

We can help

If prospects are impressed by your profile, they’re more likely to accept a connection request from you and engage with your future content. And, even if they don’t need financial advice/planning right now, maintaining a regular presence on LinkedIn should mean that, when they do, it’s you they think of.

If you’d like an explanation of how to update each section of your LinkedIn profile, have a read of our step-by-step guide to building the perfect LinkedIn profile here.

Finally, we’re currently running an exclusive offer to rebuild your profile to help you:

• Specifically target your ideal clients
• Impress prospects who find you on LinkedIn
• Help you stand out from your peers and competitors.

The first 10 people to take advantage of this offer will get a full profile rebuild for just £495 + VAT. After that, the price will rise to £695 + VAT.

The first six slots have already been snapped up, so get in touch by emailing hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk and we’ll be in touch to arrange next steps.

Phil Bray, Founder & Director at The Yardstick Agency               

Via

Emily Lang, Marketing & Operations Assistant at The Yardstick Agency

Who is a Business Manager?

Meet the backbone of successful businesses – The Business Manager! They symbolise a unique blend of traits and skills that drive success. An integrator with the ability to make tough decisions, adaptable in the face of change, and equipped with leadership, communication, and strategic thinking skills. They are the architects of a thriving business.

   – Traits:

     – Integrator: An ability to see the bigger picture and set long-term goals.

     – Decision-Maker: Capable of making informed decisions under pressure.

     – Adaptable: Flexibility to navigate through changing business models.

   – Skills:

     – Leadership: Inspiring and guiding teams toward a common goal.

     – Communication: Effectively communicating ideas and information.

     – Strategic Thinking: Planning and executing long-term business strategies.

What does a Business Manager do?

Have you ever wondered about the daily responsibilities of a Business Manager? They handle a wide range of tasks, including strategic planning, team management, decision-making, effective communication, and problem-solving. Their job is to ensure that the business runs smoothly and successfully.

Here are a few examples of what a Business Manager might do:

– Strategic Planning: They brainstorm and plan for the long-term success of the business.

– Team Support: Represent a manager overseeing and guiding a diverse team.

– Decision-Making: Visualise a decision-making process with arrows pointing to various options.

– Communication: Show effective communication channels between the manager and team members.

– Problem Solving: They solve problems and overcome obstacles that may arise while running the business.

The Skills of a Business Manager

Unlock the toolkit of successful business managers! These key skills are the secret ingredients to their leadership. From inspiring teams with effective communication to making strategic decisions and adapting to ever-changing views, these skills are essential for any successful business manager.

The following are the key skills that make a successful business manager:

– Leadership: Confidently lead a team towards a common goal.

– Communication: Effectively communicate with team members.

– Strategic thinking: Plan and strategize for the future.

– Decision-making: Make informed decisions under pressure.

– Adaptability: Navigate through changes with ease.

How it works with outsourced Business Managers

With an outsourced Business Manager, they work when it suits the clients best. From carrying out business focused meetings on a regular basis, to having quarterly 121 meetings with the team. Future business targets are created and reviewed to ensure the right focuses are being set and they are being met.

• Cost-Effective: Outsourcing can be more cost-effective because you only pay for the specific services you need. A full-time, in-house business manager may be more expensive due to salary, benefits, and other associated costs.
  
• Flexibility: Outsourced business managers often work on a flexible schedule that aligns with the client’s needs. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for businesses that may not require a full-time business manager or need support during specific periods.
  
• Remote Work: Outsourced business managers can work remotely, allowing them to provide services without the need for physical presence in the office. This can be advantageous for businesses with a distributed team or those looking to cut down on office space expenses.

• Access to Specialised Skills: Outsourced business managers often bring a wealth of experience from working with various clients. This can provide your business with access to a diverse skill set and a fresh perspective on challenges and opportunities.
  

However, it’s essential to carefully select an outsourced business manager with the right skills, experience, and compatibility with your business values and goals. Effective communication and a well-defined scope of work are crucial for a successful outsourcing relationship.

Challenges Business Managers Face

Business managers face a lot of challenges on their path to success. They need to have resilience to overcome hurdles such as navigating through uncertainties, making tough decisions, and balancing time constraints. Despite all these challenges, they still manage to achieve their goals.

To illustrate the challenges that business managers face, we can use the following examples:

– Uncertainties: Imagine a manager trying to navigate their way through a foggy or uncertain environment.

– Decision Dilemmas: Visualise a manager surrounded by arrows pointing to different decisions, trying to figure out the best one to make.

– Time Constraints: Picture a manager juggling multiple tasks against a ticking clock, trying to get everything done in time.

And there you have it – a journey into the dynamic world of Business Managers! From their essential skills to guiding teams and overcoming challenges, we’ve uncovered the secrets behind their success. Remember, they are the architects of strategy and the heroes of execution.

1. What made me choose apprenticeships over other paths?

I loved the idea of earning while learning. It gave me financial stability while focusing on my education. The hands-on experience was a game-changer for me. Applying what I learned in the real world was just awesome.

2. How did I find the apprenticeship that suited me?

I discovered it during a career’s day at secondary school. I talked to some ex-apprentices, and they convinced me that it was the right path for me. I kept checking apprenticeship websites every other day until I found the perfect opportunity that matched my interests and skills.

3. Did you have any specific skills or knowledge you wanted to learn during your apprenticeship?

I wanted to learn skills that would help me be good at my job in the field. I also wanted to know about the latest technologies and trends.

4. Did anything make you want to do an apprenticeship?

Yes, I was inspired by family members who worked in the industry and were able to establish their own successful businesses.

5. Were there any challenges or concerns you had before starting the apprenticeship, and how did you deal with them?

I was worried about balancing work and learning, but I got over it by setting a schedule I could manage. I was also worried about not learning everything I needed to, but the practical knowledge I gained during the apprenticeship helped me a lot.

6. How did the apprenticeship help you grow personally and professionally?

The apprenticeship was a great chance for me to develop my skills in communicating, solving problems and being a team player. I got to work on a lot of different projects and take on different responsibilities, which helped me learn to be more adaptable. I also became more resilient and better at handling challenges.

7. How did the apprenticeship get you ready for real-world work scenarios?

The apprenticeship was a hands-on experience that taught me how to solve real problems. I worked with professionals in the industry, which gave me an idea of how things work in the real world. I learned about workplace dynamics and what is expected of me in the industry.

8. Did you face any tough situations during your apprenticeship, and how did you overcome them?

It was tough being just 17 and having to travel so far from home to go to college every day from Monday to Friday, then come back home on Friday night and do it all over again on Sunday. But it made me more independent and self-reliant. Working on complex projects really put my abilities to the test, but I managed to navigate through them by getting guidance from my mentors and colleagues and breaking down tasks into smaller steps.

9. What advice would you give to someone thinking about doing an apprenticeship based on your own experiences?

Take every opportunity to learn and put your knowledge into practice. Build strong relationships with your mentors and colleagues to get the most out of your apprenticeship.

10. Would you recommend apprenticeships to others, and why?

Absolutely, no doubt about it. Apprenticeships offer a great mix of learning and hands-on experience, giving you the skills, you need to succeed in your chosen career. You get to learn by doing, which makes you more valuable to employers. And that is always a good thing!

Looking back at my journey, I am grateful for the experiences I had during my apprenticeship. It wasn’t just a way to get to the end goal, it was an adventure that really transformed me both professionally and personally. The theories and concepts that I learned during my apprenticeship turned into real-life successes, and the whole experience helped guide me towards a fulfilling and successful career.

Paul Myall

Managing Director

T: 01621 737292

M: 07507865269

E: paul@fusionmanagement.co.uk

W: www.fusionmanagement.co.uk 

What motivated you to choose an apprenticeship over other educational or career paths?

Once I knew the end of school was approaching, I was eager to start my career; albeit I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. I loved helping people and using a computer. An apprenticeship route gradually helped me understand the ‘real world’ of working and allowed me to earn whilst I further developed.

How did you discover the apprenticeship opportunity you eventually pursued?

I believe it was a job site, via Bromley College.

Were there challenges or concerns you had before starting the apprenticeship, and how did you address them?

It’s always scary starting something new, especially going from a school setting to a business setting. However, I was passionate about finding a career path I was interested in and knew I would be able to find this via an apprenticeship.

Did you explore other educational options before deciding on an apprenticeship, and what set it apart for you?

Yes. I attended college / sixth-form openings, however, I was ready to move past this environment and wanted to learn whilst in a business setting.

How did the apprenticeship contribute to your personal and professional growth?

I genuinely do not think I would be where I am today without it. I’m hugely grateful to the bosses who hired me (Ian & Casey) for taking a chance on me all those years back. They interviewed a shy girl, who had just left school and watched me grow into a business manager who could sit in board meetings, help with business direction and absolutely love financial planning. It’s made me so much more confident as a person and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity provided to me.

What advice would you give to someone considering an apprenticeship based on your own experiences?

As long as you’re open to becoming passionate about the job/career you’re getting into, go for it & give it your all – take every opportunity provided to you to help yourself grow and develop.

Why?

Because they have the highest conversion rate and the lowest cost of acquisition.

So, it’s not surprising that almost all financial advisers and planners want more recommendations. 95.44% according to The Yardstick Agency’s 2023 Referral & Recommendation Survey.

If you’re reading this blog, you probably do too!

It’s simple…

What to do

The first thing you need to do to receive more recommendations is deliver a service that people want to recommend.

From there, develop a comprehensive strategy based on:

• Data
• Nurturing
• Education
• Appreciation
• Communication.

And, once you’ve outlined your strategy, you need to implement it at the right time for it to be as effective as possible.

The strategy explained

Data

If you’ve come across The Yardstick Agency before, you’ll know we like to be data driven.

We encourage our clients to use data to understand if they’re delivering a service that people want to recommend and, if they’re not, use the data to provide insight on how to rectify that.

If you ask the right questions on your client surveys, you can find out which of your clients are advocates and active advocates, what barriers there are stopping clients from being active advocates, and how you can improve from their feedback.

What makes a client an “active” advocate, as opposed to just an advocate? It’s those clients who have recommended you in the past 12 months.

After you’ve finished here, you can have a read of this blog for tips on how to create the perfect client survey and how to run it.

Nurturing

Close the loop after the survey is finished by sending the results to your clients.

Why?

• The people who completed the survey see the results of the time and effort they invested
• It allows you to explain the things you’ll be changing as a result of the survey and shows your clients that their feedback hasn’t gone unheard
• It shows the clients who didn’t complete the survey that there was a benefit in doing so and, therefore, should raise completion rates next time around.

By doing this, your clients will know that you genuinely care about their views and have their best interests in mind when asking for feedback. This nurtures your relationship.

And it’s not just current clients that you need to look after.

Prospects, including recommendations, who don’t immediately become clients, need to be nurtured until the time is right for them to engage. If you don’t nurture them:

• Your conversion rates will fall
• You’ll be operationally less efficient
• You’re throwing away the time and money you invested in creating the prospect.

Not sure how to nurture prospects? You should:

1. Make sure you have an effective enquiry recording system (how can you nurture someone without their details?)
2. Send a monthly newsletter to your clients, prospects and professional connections. Not quarterly – we will die on this hill!
3. Connect with them on social media and make sure you’re consistently sharing content that adds value.

Education

Once you have built trust and a relationship with your clients, you can ask for reviews and have a conversation about recommendations.

There is a distinct difference here.

85% of clients say their adviser/planner has never asked for a recommendation (Source: VouchedFor).

We get it. Advisers/planners are often nervous about discussing recommendations.

Consequently, they mention it briefly, and the client nods politely but then forgets what’s been said because it was just a passing moment.

Asking for a recommendation makes clients feel obligated to help, being put on the spot to think of anyone they can suggest. It’s easy to see how that could lead to an unsuitable name being plucked from the air, wasting everybody’s time or leaving your clients feeling alienated.

Instead, educate your clients on the types of recommendations you want to receive by setting aside dedicated time for this specific conversation.

• Talk about who you want to work with. Are they local? Retired? Business owners?
• Let them know when they should recommend you and how – do you want them to direct prospects to your website? Do you have a link to a specific form you’d like them to fill out?

This sort of transparency and openness will lead to a better experience for your clients, and more appropriate recommendations for you.

Appreciation

When you initially receive a recommendation, how do you thank the client who introduced you?
Most advisers/planners who took part in our Referral & Recommendation Survey said they either sent an email or gave them a phone call.

Thanking clients for recommendations in a unique way will make you stand out and make your clients feel genuinely appreciated, which could lead to more introductions later down the road.

Here are some memorable ways to thank your clients:

• A personalised thank you card when the recommendation is received. This is the classy option. It stands out more than a call or email and shows your clients that you’ve gone the extra mile (just as they have for you) to say thank you
• Sending a personalised gift or a charitable donation when the recommendation converts into a client, again, is classy and unexpected. The value of the gift is less important than the personalisation
• Run appreciation events to thank your clients for recommending people to you.

These options will make your clients feel that recommending you was worth their while.

Communication

Psychological studies have found that repeated exposure to a stimulus, including another person, can lead to an implicit preference for it.

So, in theory, the more contact you can have with prospects, the more they should gravitate towards you over other planners.

This tallies up with research from VouchedFor that implies that there is a positive correlation between the number of touchpoints clients have with their planners and how likely they are to leave a review.

Even more reason to believe us when we say that monthly newsletters are the way forward!

In addition to newsletters, you could run webinars for prospects, current clients and professional connections, demonstrating the value your services provide to people like them.

On the last slide, stick your LinkedIn details on there so they can connect with you, giving them more exposure to your content.

Get in touch with marketing professionals

So there you have it. We said it was simple, not easy!

Seen something in this blog you’d like to implement to get more recommendations but not sure where to start?

Please email hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk and we’ll set up an initial call. We’d love to hear from you.

Phil Bray, Founder & Director at The Yardstick Agency

Via

Emily Lang, Marketing & Operations Assistant at The Yardstick Agency

In September, Fusion Business Management celebrated its second anniversary. This does not quite feel real, but also feels like I’ve been steering this business and collaborating with our incredible clients for even longer. From the outset, I held onto the statistic that 20% of UK businesses don’t make it past their first year. Crossing that milestone filled me with pride, but I now continue to pinch myself with what we’ve achieved since.

Throughout the year, our business has experienced numerous highlights, including:

• Securing the title of the best financial services support provider in the East of England at the SME Finance Awards.
• Being invited by Nucleus to contribute to a blog (https://illuminate.nucleusfinancial.com/blog/outsource-practice-manager?).
• Receiving nominations for the Professional Adviser Women in Financial Advice Awards in the categories of adviser support services and rising star – non-advice.
• Earning a place as a finalist in the Professional Adviser Women in Financial Advice Awards in the adviser support services category.
• Celebrating Paul’s one-year milestone in the industry and joining Fusion Business Management.
• Fine-tuning our service proposition and strategically considering where we can add the most value, resulting in updates to our website and service brochure.
• Strengthening professional relationships with other outsourced providers in the financial planning industry.
• Concluding the year collaborating with many exceptional, forward-thinking firms with whom we’ve built incredible working relationships.

On a personal note, 2023 was an extremely special year as we finally had our dream wedding which we had been planning since the middle of lockdown. We jetted out to Cyprus, had the most amazing two-week holiday and got married in front of our nearest and dearest. Apart from becoming Lucy Myall, I’ve continued to witness the incredible growth of our now three-year-old, evolving into a remarkable little boy who makes me proud every day. For those who speak with us regularly, you’d know that Hunter has developed a keen interest in golf this year, often heading to the driving range or pitch & putt whenever the opportunity arises – undoubtedly a future enthusiast of financial planning!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has provided us with endless support, love, and encouragement throughout the year. I feel an immense sense of gratitude for the experiences listed above, and I eagerly anticipate what the future holds.

Wishing you a joyous New Year, filled with positive outcomes for 2024 and beyond. x