David Reed
Now in its thirteenth year, the AFA Adviser of the Year (and more recently, the Practice of the Year) award is about recognising the best of the best. The award shines a light on those advisers and businesses that are leading the industry through their support for new and innovative ideas, their drive for customer-centricity and commitment to professional excellence.
This year the bar was raised even higher – and the judging process became even tougher – with each and every one of the grand finalists well and truly at the top of their game.
Ultimately, there could only be one winner in each category and, as a proud long-term partner of the AFA Adviser of the Year and Practice of the Year award, Zurich was pleased to announce David Reed and the team from the Kearney Group as the award’s outstanding recipients for 2015.
You may be wondering, in such a tight race, what were their formulas for success? According to Zurich’s judges, Head of Distribution, Kristine Brooks and Head of Sales Research and Strategy, Andy Marshall, the core component of education, experience and contribution were only the tip of the iceberg when it came to this year’s rigorous judging process.
The panel also looked closely at advisers’ use of technology and innovative processes (from initial client contact and throughout the advice relationship), the quality of client engagement materials and techniques, as well as their segmentation philosophies and client feedback processes.
However, as Andy Marshall explains, “A homogenous business structure was not something we were looking for, or even particularly wanted to see, throughout the Adviser and Practice of the Year judging process. In fact, the moment I ever feel like the business model of advisers has moved to a ‘Do you want fries with that?’ conformity, I will certainly hand over my judge’s clipboard.”
“Ultimately, advisers need to remember that the Adviser and Practice of the Year award is not just about rewarding greatness – it’s also about celebrating diversity.”
Head of Distribution, Kristine Brooks agrees, saying “The underlying elements within each of this year’s finalist’s business were all unique in their own way, however for advisers aspiring to follow in the footsteps of David Reed and the team at the Kearney Group and potentially take out the AFA Adviser or Practice of the Year award in 2016, there were four simple areas that this year’s winners not only shared, but made a primary focus within their businesses.”
1. Vision
Having a defined vision is a way of articulating your business’s goals, ambitions, beliefs and values – not just for yourself but also for your clients. An example of a defined vision from one of this year’s winners provides “…individually tailored client-centred care that enriches the business ventures and personal lives of our clients by appropriately positioning and protecting what they have today, planning for what they want in their future and preparing the path by which they’ll reach their goals.”
In one statement they have defined what they do for clients and how they do it well. This is so important because, without a defined vision, it’s difficult to align your business goals with your clients’ life goals. Articulating your direction and convictions in a clear vision establishes a fixed point to aim towards – especially in more challenging times. Think of your vision as a “beacon” that guides you and your business forward.
2. Customers
By understanding who their customers are, Australia’s leading advisers and advice businesses set in place the foundation stones for client loyalty. Having this level of understanding of what makes a client tick is no accident. It is delivered by advisers through regular, meticulous questioning of clients that goes well beyond the standard fact find.
Examples from the 2015 AFA Adviser and Practice of the Year award winners include:
- Providing value-adds to enhance the client journey. This could be an iPad mini as a gift to a client at the 90-day post-implementation meeting, or a compendium to help get clients organised.
- Making a client feel at home. This includes all staff knowing the client’s name and back story, having images and other client stories that are relatable so the client can picture themselves in a similarly successful situation, and using new technologies such as live chat, skype, client portals to make the process as easy as possible for their client.
- Creating ‘fan bases’ on social media such as Facebook groups, to strengthen their brand as well as provide their clients with an additional layer of trust and assurance that comes from being ‘peer-reviewed’.
- Creating opportunities for clients to share and learn from each other. This may be at community events or learning seminars.
3. Process
Mandatory processes around internal workflows are par for the course but a measured and well-designed client-engagement process drives satisfaction, which in turn drives loyalty and advocacy.
Considerable time and effort has been put in by this year’s winning advisers to create effective processes around how they will deliver client-engagement and develop their advice strategy. For example, each client has been allocated a scorecard, individual diagnostics, benchmarks, ‘what if’ scenarios, and transparent rules of engagement (portfolio decisions on top-ups, documented redraws, defined sum insured levels).
The key ingredient is that any process is developed by putting customer understanding and efficiency in delivering customer-focused advice outcomes at the heart of everything they do.
A scorecard for a client that was developed by one of this year’s finalists on aspects of wealth included everything from income needed, legacy wishes, recreational reserves, to satisfaction with life. What this shows is that the adviser recognises the relationship goes far beyond money, and in doing so, can guide a client into a wealth of different (and often deeper) conversations about their approach to retirement. Without this process, the “how” of a client’s feelings can be neglected and ultimately lead to poor financial decisions.
4. Learning
Education and self-improvement is very much front and centre for advisers, especially in the wake of the recent debate about adviser training standards. That’s why our winning advisers have also created scorecards for their advisers and staff.
While this method varies from adviser to adviser and practice to practice, the common denominator was that they all this year’s finalists (including the winners) have adviser and staff development plans in place and they are diligently enacted. This method not only puts the quality and consistency of staff education front and centre, it also helps practice owners recognise their own value and their impact on the business as a whole.
Development plans for the 2015 AFA Adviser and Practice of the Year were all designed with the defined vision of their business in mind – a vision which was in turn, designed with the customer in mind. Quite simply, the development plans were all about delivering better client experiences and deeper client engagement.
For the everyday adviser, this could be achieved through technical expertise development, systems training, client psychology courses, social media training, public speaking opportunities, or even coffee making (because there’s no point having a coffee machine in the office if no one can use it). In fact, one practice finalist delivered barista training to all staff – no chance of a bad coffee in this business!
These are all simple, practical focus areas any advice business can enact to take their business from zero to hero. They each deliver satisfaction, trust, loyalty and advocacy, with net promoter scores above 80 and adviser trust scores in the 90s. How do we know? We’ve measured it!
Since 2012, Zurich has also produced four whitepapers in conjunction with the AFA and the Beddoes Institute. Our first whitepaper, Pathways to Excellence highlights how Australia’s leading advisers are building successful and sustainable businesses, the second, The Trusted Adviser explores how they are building long lasting and trusted relationships with their clients, and more recently our Connecting with Clients and Connected Convenience whitepapers dig deep into the client service proposition, looking at different communication needs across generations – including some surprising insights on social media and mobile device usage.
The range of whitepapers are a must-read for advisers serious about building an award-winning business, and are available exclusively from Zurich on 1800 252 650.