Let’s spend 5 minutes talking training with Neal Durling, Practice Development Manager at MLC Advice Solutions.

Neal, we all know investors want positive returns.  But taking that as a given, what makes financial planning clients talk positively about their planner?  What really drives great financial planning service?

• Naturally returns are important but I am a strong believer that a sustainable advice proposition needs to focus on elements an adviser can control with measurable deliverables that can be reinforced at review.
• From my experience, clients who talk positively about their planner use words like Trust, Communication and Value for money. Interestingly they seldom refer to Price which is perhaps not surprising as cheap doesn’t necessarily mean good value!

It’s been a tough 18 months for the financial planning industry.  What have you seen the successful financial planning practices doing differently to the rest during that period?

• Firstly by refusing to accept that because the market is down their business must also be down!
• By having a diversified advice offer and not relying on a single strategy offering.
• And finally by having a sustainable client acquisition strategy wether this be via existing client referral, centres of influence, marketing activity or a combination of all three!

What have you found that motivates clients to provide referrals?  Persistence, service, opportunity, value, money/prizes, a particular time or something else?

• The timing has to be right. A relationship built on Trust and Value must already exist and the client must be appropriately positioned so the request is not a shock. Then, I find, clients’ are happy to refer.
• Common traps include appearing too busy (messy office / sounding busy), delivering an unreliable service (hard to get hold of) and not positioning the client appropriately before asking for the referral.

You will have trained and coached a lot of planners yourself. What advice can you give to other mangers of financial planners to get their advisers and other staff more motivated around business development?

• Help them understand success is a choice. Most people know what they need to do but they don’t do enough of it.
• Good coaches help advisers articulate what they know they need to do, put a measure around it and get permission to hold them accountable to it.
• Chairing client focus groups to drive referral strategies, providing third party endorsement to Centre’s of Influence through joint visits etc are also value add activities.
• Never say "Do more!" and expect an improved outcome! Only frustration comes from this!  People don't set out to fail so simply telling them to "do more" wont help them.  They need guidance, options, alternatives or a path forward.  It's usually lack of know-how than desire that is the problem.

What ways have you found effective to engage clients in a discussion around referrals?

• Tell clients what you will do (position referral conversation).
• Do what you say you will do (reinforce the referral nature of your business).
• Tell the client what you have done and have the referral conversation.

Can you share your #1 client referral tip with us?

• If I can provide only one it would be attend one of your courses David. Having attended one myself I know it will provide multiple tips so I think that’s good leverage! [DK – I’ll send you the $50 later Neal…]

Ok, let’s help out all the readers of this interview who are probably wondering “Who would be an ideal referral for MLC Advice Solutions?” Who should they be thinking about and how can someone make a referral to you or any of the MLC businesses?

• We offer Practice Management and Licensee services to Financial Planning businesses. My clients include boutique own licence businesses as well as aligned licensee businesses.
• Our ideal clients aspire to build an Advice business of the future and align with a business that can provide a quality and depth of services that support their business now and remain relevant as it grows.
• I can be contacted on 0411 126 442 and always welcome the opportunity to meet Financial Planning business owners to discuss business strategy and how MLC Advice Solutions can support this.

Thanks Neal!   You can learn more about MLC Advice Solutions, either as a personal client or working with MLC as an adviser, at http://www.mlc.com.au/mlc or contact Neal directly on 0411 126 442.