How to Show Clients You're 'Worth It', and 4 more must reads for your business

Reset and refresh

Hard to believe but we’re at the end of the first quarter of 2019 already. I know you have your quarterly review to do, but you also you need to make sure you give your mindset a refresh too. One of the best ways to do that is by learning something new.

With that in mind here are five great must-read business articles that I shared on FP Advance social media this March.

Take a step away from getting things done, and get reading. You’ll thank yourself for it.

Joe Duran: 4 Ways to Show Clients You’re ‘Worth It’

Janet Levaux

What problem are you getting paid to solve? The correct answer isn’t making sure your employees and clients “don’t run out of money,” according to Joe Duran of United Capital, “but how can you help them live rich?” Well worth a listen.

I originally saw this on Michael Kitces’ Weekend Reading.

Are You Negotiating Against Yourself?

Mark Tibergien

The BNY Mellon Pershing, 2018 Investment News Study of Pricing & Profitability revealed that 28% of respondents redefined their fee brackets based on assets under management. More than half of those making some price adjustment actually raised their fees. So much for margin compression.

Mark Tibergien says, “Some advisors say they have started to cut their fees because they keep reading about fee compression and they are concerned about being at odds with the world around them.” I see and hear the same conversations in the UK. But is it true?

An excellent examination how to look at your pricing approach.

There is a huge difference between good and great advice

Garrett Harbron and Anna Madamba
Vanguard’s 2018 Adviser-Client Survey says that both “advisers and clients consider the services offered by advisers as valuable — it would be curious if they didn’t. But there appears to be a ‘gap’ between the services advisers say they offer and the services clients report receiving from their adviser. While advisers report delivering a high number of services, the rate at which clients report receiving those services is far lower.

There may be a number of reasons for this. One is that advisers may be over-confident in assuming that their clients understand what they are doing and why. Another might be that advisers are struggling to communicate the value of their services.”

To Improve Your Team, First Work on Yourself

Jennifer Porter

The author and her colleague were observing a heated discussion among ten senior leaders in a meeting. They paused the meeting and posed this question: “How are you reacting to this conversation and what in you is causing your reaction?” They were met with blank stares. The leaders asked them to repeat the question, seemingly surprised that we had asked them to take responsibility for their reactions. Surely, we had meant to ask them what everyone else was doing wrong in the conversation, right?

A fascinating and insightful read for all leaders.

20 mistakes advisers and planners make on their websites (and the solution to fix them)

Philip Bray

Here’s a really useful blog from Phil Bray of The Yardstick Agency on mistakes advisers make on their website. My personal favourites are, 2, 7, and 8.

What are yours?