by Jim Stackpool | Oct 12, 2026 | Consultative Approach, Future of Financial Advice, Pricing Advice, Value Proposition
He’s 42. A partner in a big accounting and advice group. Good salary, good car, young kids in good schools. Over coffee in Brisbane’s Newstead last month, he told me he is losing enthusiasm for the advice approach his firm is pursuing. The important targets he’s been...
by Hayley Hoile | Oct 7, 2026 | Uncategorized
She’s 35. Technically great. Earlier this year, she held an annual review with a couple she first engaged in 2021. Year one was straightforward. A messy super consolidation, an insurance gap, a cash flow plan smashed by Covid. Years two and three, a few tweaks....
by Jim Stackpool | Sep 28, 2026 | Consultative Approach
I was reviewing the recording of a discovery meeting week before last. A new client of mine was conducting a discovery meeting with a couple in their fifties. Twenty minutes in, the adviser asked one of my favourite discovery questions. “Who, if anyone, is...
by Jim Stackpool | Sep 15, 2026 | Client Offerings, Future of Financial Advice
Louise and Mark live in Dandenong. She is a lawyer working at the local council, and he works for a sports promotion firm. They were referred by a friend and client of one of my advice firms. They are in their 40’s. Their jobs are thriving, their family lives are...
by Jim Stackpool | Sep 7, 2026 | Client Offerings, Future of Financial Advice
The daughter of a long-term pensioner client set up a gym in Ballarat. A couple of years later, she set up a second. Last year, she and her partner started a third up the road in Daylesford. They have been running by the seat of their pants ever since. Nearly six...
by Jim Stackpool | Aug 24, 2026 | Uncategorized
New advisers today are probably more technically competent at their stage than their seniors were in their earliest days. Better technical training. Better tools. Better models. Better precedents. Better technology. Clearer compliance, quicker to a recommendation....
by Jim Stackpool | Aug 17, 2026 | Leadership
Last month I ran an executive planning session for a Canberra-based advice firm. There were five in the executive team. They have about forty staff, and we had a day for planning. I start these sessions the same way. Before any planning, any numbers, I ask each exec...
by Jim Stackpool | Aug 4, 2026 | Business Performance, Consultative Approach
Olivia runs a six-adviser firm in Brisbane’s Ashgrove. Business is good, so good she hasn’t sent a newsletter in two years and hasn’t needed to spend anything on social media. She didn’t reach out to me to discuss new business issues. We caught up to...
by Jim Stackpool | Jul 28, 2026 | Business Performance, Leadership
I ran a pricing session recently with an advice team under-pricing nearly half their client base. Nothing unusual there, most comprehensive advice teams are. What was interesting was the discussion with the newest adviser at the end of the table, Lisa. She has been in...
by Jim Stackpool | Jul 20, 2026 | Advice Clients, Advice Pods, Advice Pools, advice skills, Consultative Approach
I was talking to Marcus recently. Ten years ago, he founded his firm. Sarah joined six years ago, Len seven. Each of them now runs their own pod, and for years it has worked well. Then, twelve months ago, Maddie left Len’s team. Maddie was Len’s constant...
