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The Client-centred Blog

Welcome to The Client Centred Blog; Free content that shares a fresh approach to thriving as a financial professional in a rapidly changing environment.

This blog has its foundation in a new understanding of the human mind that gives you the ultimate platform for creating better results, thriving under any circumstances and living the life you want.     

I invite you to explore the materials, reflect upon how it relates to you and your business and enjoy the benefits.

Learning a Lot — But implementing little?
We’ve just completed the final session of our online Client Engagement Masterclass. Over eight sessions, the participants and I explored the core principles of creating exceptional client engagement. The content was powerful — and just as valuable were the insights participants shared with each other. But as with any programme,...
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The changing face of financial advice: How advisers must evolve to stay relevant
One of the things I have noticed about financial advisers and practices that continue to thrive is that they are masters of reinvention.
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The importance of honesty in client relationships
Building a thriving practice, based on making a bigger difference to clients has many aspects to it. One of the most fundamental is that client relationships are based on truth. It can feel uncomfortable (at first) to share your truth with clients and allow them to do the same with...
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Why your financial planning fees must NEVER be an issue
This article explores why your financial planning fees must never be an issue with clients. Just recently a financial planner client of mine came to our coaching session wanting to talk about a fee situation with a client of his.
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My favourite Einstein quote and why it matters
One of the biggest challenges for a financial adviser is getting stuck on a plateau they cannot seem to move past. Can you think of a recurring problem or limitation in your business?
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Stress free goal setting for financial planners
What is your experience of goal setting? For me, I would set goals because it seemed like a good idea to know where I wanted to get to. Yet I found that, at times, the process could often become quite stressful. I have also heard many people share that this...
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Why movie montages can ruin your business
Closing the gap between where we are now and where we want to be in our business doesn’t happen overnight. It takes sustained, disciplined and focus work.
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The law of action – why action beats attraction
Do you want to build a better, more profitable practice but finding progress is painfully slow? You have probably heard of ‘The law of attraction’. The idea gained huge popularity when the film and then the book, ‘The secret’ was released.
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Why your financial planning practice culture is the key to delivering exceptional service
Are you committed to delivering exceptional client service? If so, employees who genuinely care, communicate well, and take responsibility are essential. This article takes a look at how to bring out the best in your team.
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Publishing a book is a huge opportunity for financial planners: Here’s why
Have you ever considered publishing a book? I recently spent six months as part of a group of 36 coaches in the AJC Coaching Career School. Of those 36 coaches there were at least six people who were published authors of a book (some people more than one).
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Financial planning relationships – how do you keep adding massive long-term value?
No matter how long you have known your client what is the secret to continuing to add massive value? Imagine when you first meet a new client and the early period of your relationship. In the beginning…
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Are your feelings running your business?
Have you ever found that self-doubt, a low mood, or feeling fearful has held you back?  I’m sure this has been the case for all of us and it can have a big impact upon the quality of our results. In this article I am sharing how you get past...
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The value of knowing your value
Last week I was in London for three days attending the AJC Coaching Career School. This is a six-month long school, run by Ankush Jain, for coaches who want to build a more impactful coaching practice. For me, one of the most important things about being in business is that...
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Why elevator pitches don’t work
What prompted me to write this article about elevator pitches was reading an article published by Asana. It said: “A good elevator pitch can be the difference between landing your next big opportunity or falling short of the competition.” Really? Does this stack up?
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Be the casino, not the gambler
Are you happy in your job as a financial planner or adviser? I often speak with financial planners or advisers who feel stuck in a rut and want to reinvigorate their work.  Maybe they have been doing the same thing for a long while and simply want to change. Sometimes...
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Two approaches to goal setting and why only one is healthy
I have found that goal setting can be a double-edged sword.  On one hand we want to achieve things that are important to us, so aiming at something makes sense. Yet for many people pushing hard towards their goals also causes them a lot of stress and compromises their quality...
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A new way of thinking about financial planning fees  
Although there seems to be plenty of information on the process of increasing your financial planning fee, there is far less on the thinking behind it. So, in this article I am taking an alternative look at fee charging. Read on to discover:  1. How most firms set fees 2....
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Is money holding you back from building a prosperous financial planning practice?
I read a survey conducted with financial advisers asking what their biggest challenge was. Number one was getting clients. It would be easy to believe that all is required to solve this problem is finding a reliable source of potential clients. Yet this is not always true. As I discovered,...
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Wisdom from one of the UK’s most successful female financial planners
My client Fulva Giust is one of the UK’s most successful female financial planners, operating for over thirty years.  Fulva has built a thriving practice serving wealthy families and individuals built upon rock solid foundations of trust, caring, and kindness. She takes a deep interest in the lives of her...
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10 powerful ways a financial planner can deeply serve clients from the first moment
How can you begin to deeply serve a client from the very first moment? When meeting with a potential client there are likely to be at least three important questions on their mind: 1. Do I like them? 2. Can I trust them? 3. Can they help me?
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Do you hate selling financial planning? Discover the two shifts that change everything
Do you love working with your existing clients but hate selling? If so, you would not be alone. Yet rather than enduring this essential aspect of being a financial planner what if you could learn to love what is often perceived as the hard part? If this is you then...
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The 12 Client-centred mind shifts – part 3
Have you ever considered what creates the very highest value for your financial planning clients? I am going to suggest it is not, important as they are, the financial arrangements you recommend and put in place for them. No. It is their own mind shifts.
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The hidden secret of where you find financial planning clients
Do you want to know the hidden secret of where you find financial planning clients? Most of the advice on how to find financial planning clients is prescriptive. It tells you what to do or where to look. Yet how helpful is this?
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What are the three roles of a lifestyle financial planner?
Do you ever find your role as a lifestyle financial planner being overly complex? Would you like it to be simpler, more productive, and more rewarding? If so, this article considers that there are only three core roles of a lifestyle financial planner.
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The three types of financial planning client
There are three types of financial planning client you can build your practice around. And because the three types are defined by what the client values, it can make a massive difference to the quality of your business.
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Financial Planning clients for life – the one thing you MUST do
Creating happy, enthusiastic, loyal financial planning clients for life requires you to do one thing well, and consistently. What is that one thing?
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How to get financial planning clients – the only way I know
Financial planning is not a commodity. It is experiential and conversations are right at the core of this.
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The best prospecting advice for financial planners
Why do some financial planners seem to effortlessly find clients whilst others experience growing their practice as a constant struggle?
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What does it really take to 10x grow a financial planning business?
There is a critical factor in growing your financial planning business that is often misunderstood.
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Can coaching for financial planners really help your career?
Why are an increasing number of financial planners choosing to work with a coach? Is it something that could help you accomplish your most important goals and realise more of your potential as a financial planner? Read on to discover why coaching works…
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How to have bigger impact with clients
How much impact am I having? This is a great question to reflect upon when it comes to your client relationships. Whether you have just met someone new or have been working with someone for a decade or longer the amount of impact we are having in that person’s life...
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Solve your financial planning lead generation problem forever!
If I had a penny for every time I’ve been asked how to get more clients as a financial adviser, how to grow a client base, and the best lead generation tips, well, I’d be very rich. Getting your first financial planning clients is actually rather straightforward…
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Growing your business in the quickest, most efficient way possible – Here’s how
Something extremely valuable I learned from my coach is that every system is perfect for the result it creates. For instance, … If you are only getting half of the business that you want, then your current system is perfect for that result. If you are working fifteen hours a...
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What is the highest value your clients can get from you?
A few years ago, I attended a conference in Oslo and one of my memories is of Dr. Aaron Turner making a particularly powerful point. Aaron shared a story about a time he was holidaying in Hawaii with his family. They were spending some time on the beach and he...
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The most-read blog posts of 2019
I was looking back over 2019's blog posts and I wanted to share the 5 most read with you again. You never know which ones are going to have the most reads and sometimes it can be a surprise. I enjoyed re-living the inspiration for each one and hope you...
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Why not even Richard Branson can help you
What is stopping your business becoming a much better business? It is an interesting question to reflect upon, isn't it? One of my clients, Noel, is an entrepreneur who has started several successful companies. His latest creation is a tech business in the financial sector, and it has gone from...
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Creating a client centred culture, not a numbers driven one
Do you lead a team of people? Do you want to get the best from them but avoid the downsides of pushing them too hard? It has often been said that 'an organisations greatest asset is its people'. I believe this has to be true because without people there is...
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Turning financial planning clients away – is it good for business?
Towards the end of last year, I was privileged to be invited along to a focus group for a financial planning client of mine. A group of the firm’s clients had been invited along to a half-day event where an external marketing agency explored with the group a number of...
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Twice the productivity, with half the effort and none of the stress
Is twice the productivity, with half the effort and none of the stress a realistic goal for you and your business? And whether you think it is realistic or not, how much difference would this make to you? Many business people, if not all, are on the lookout for edges...
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Where do you find new clients?
What prompted this article was recently reading that 70% of advisers are actively seeking new clients. I know from working for myself for over twenty five years and working with dozens of my own clients that consistently bringing on new clients can seem a big challenge. Typical questions that people...
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Without the fear, what would you do?
Fear, if misunderstood, is such a debilitating emotion. When I began my coaching practice it soon became obvious that the business and personal challenges that people experienced were almost always some kind of fear in disguise. I noticed that when people were stuck or struggling - to get clients, build...
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The Most Effective Sales Programme Of All
Being able to sell with integrity is an essential business skill. Yet many people seem to struggle with it. So, what is the factor that makes the biggest difference of all? A while back I met up for coffee with a friend who runs a business networking group in London....
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Giving up the illusion of control
I am writing this piece whilst on a train back home from meeting a valued and trusted client in London. An idea for a new programme had occurred to me and it had been percolating in my mind. I had met with my client to ask, "What do you think...
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Getting clients to come to you
If you are building your practice then having an increasing number of people seeking you out and wanting to work with you is the ideal situation. What could be better than having great conversations with interested people and hearing them say the magic words... 'So, where do we go from...
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How to raise your fees (and have clients willingly pay them)
Going back over ten years to the early days of my coaching business I was walking along Piccadilly on the way to see a client one day and, quite by chance, I bumped into my friend Jamie who is also a business and corporate coach. We both had a little...
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Why advisers shouldn’t avoid challenging their clients
Although the term 'sales' can have negative connotations these days, if you are providing a professional service then engaging new clients and re-engaging existing ones is often an important part of your business. So, what can give you a significant advantage? A while back I came across some research that...
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No pain, no gain vs. no pain, no pain
Dusan Djukich wrote in his book 'Straight-line Leadership', "Most failure comes from quitting too soon." I guess we have all had projects, ideas and changes we intended to implement but, as he says, we have quit too soon. If we had stayed in the game, then we would have created...
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Your ultimate competitive advantage
I recently read about a study that revealed that most businesses lose, in profits, around 25 to 30 percent of their annual sales figure due to something called 'COPQ' - the cost of poor quality. Where does 'COPQ' originate? It comes from good, caring and intelligent people making mistakes, errors...
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Trust – what builds it and what destroys it?
Trust is often thought of in terms of behaviours - do trustworthy behaviours and people will trust you. Also, in financial services many people believe that technical mastery is something that builds trust. The idea being that if you have qualifications and professional designations, then this leads to higher trust....
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Resilience – The essential key to suffering less and accomplishing more
Have you noticed how resilience has become a hot topic in business? There are TED talks on it, it is being written about in the Harvard Business Review and organisations are beginning to realise that high resilience levels are a major factor in creating sustainable success. Often, the most successful...
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The hidden secret of effective business building
"Why is it that with all the information available today on how to be successful in small business, so few people really are?" Michael Gerber When it comes to building a better business and one that provides more of the rewards that you want there are two kinds of change...
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John Dashfield spent 14 years as a self-employed adviser. Since 2006 he has been a coach, mentor and author helping advisers create transformations in their business and personal lives.

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