Description
SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTERS:
Chapter – Client Case Studies
In addition to capturing the standard fees and pricing models from each advice business, we asked participants to quote the fees they would charge to provide advice to a range of sample client scenarios. Research participants were provided with some limited background information on a fictitious client scenario, and we include this information as a way to demonstrate the practical application and the outcomes of different pricing models.
This section features six sample client scenarios, the fees each would pay for advice, and a summary of the ongoing services they’d be provided.
Chapter – How are advisers engaging with new and existing clients?
Consumer demand, public scrutiny and the FASEA Code of Ethics have combined to increase pressure on advisers to demonstrate value for their fees, and the loss of grandfathered investment commissions and introduction of annual agreements means every adviser in Australia is applying focus on how they deliver an outstanding client experience. This edition of the research captured additional information to provide deep insights into how advisers are engaging with their clients, when and how they position their fees, their growth and marketing activity and more qualitative information on the growth and success they’re achieving.
Chapter – Pricing Insurance Advice
Pricing insurance advice is a contentious and complicated subject. Previous editions of this research revealed a growing trend of advisers starting to charge fees for their insurance advice in what has traditionally been an area of advice funded by commission payments. With further downward pressure on commission amounts, it’s not surprising that we are seeing this trend continue. In order to gain a thorough understanding of how advisers are being paid for their advice on personal risk insurance, we made sure to drill down into how advisers are paid for their insurance advice, both when it’s included in their comprehensive advice and when provided separately on a standalone basis. We include figures for standalone ‘insurance only’ advice in this chapter, and the details on fees charged where insurance is included in a comprehensive financial plan can be found in the How Much? A Look at the Numbers Charged chapter.
Chapter – Challenges and Solutions
It’s official. Pricing advice is hard. Determining how to structure a pricing model and how much to charge is a complex thought process, and the application of a pricing model is made all the more difficult when the advice landscape and rule book seems to be constantly changing.
In this chapter, we share some of the most consistent challenges voiced by the research participants, and we felt it important to also reveal some solutions to the common challenges. We share these solutions as a result of both our knowledge gained from this research project and our 13+ years of coaching advice businesses.
Chapter – Productivity and Efficiency
The costs and complexities in delivering financial advice have steadily increased over the years, and it’s never been more important to focus on gaining efficiencies in a business. As business coaches we are constantly asked about the key drivers to reduce the costs of advice, and increase productivity and profitability while enhancing the client experience. Questions such as; How many support staff ‘should’ each adviser have? How many appointments ‘should’ an adviser do each week? What does outsourcing really cost? Can you actually still make any money from delivering compliant advice? This chapter is designed to get you thinking about how you can achieve greater productivity and efficiency in your business. We looked at a number of productivity factors in this research, and have analysed the data in a number of ways to measure the impact of different variables.
Chapter – Business Models
Studying different elements of pricing models and fees charged is fascinating, and it’s also helpful to understand some complete business models in their entirety. This chapter reveals the complete pricing model and answer set from six distinctly different businesses, to provide the reader with a better understanding of how elements come together, and what’s possible in practise.
