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...
by Jim Stackpool | Jun 21, 2026 | Advice Clients, Advice is not a Product, Certainty Advice, client conversations, Client Offerings, cost to serve, Cost-To-Serve, Delivering Value, Fee For Service, Pricing Advice, Value Proposition
What do advice teams do for a $20,000 fee? The $20,000 figure is less significant than its relativity. That is, adviser’s whose common new fee is, say, $6,000, are wondering what are other advice teams doing for $20,000. If the fees are determined by amount of...
by Jim Stackpool | Jun 15, 2026 | Advice Clients, Advice Conversations, Advice is not a Product, best practice, Case Studies, Client Care, client conversations, Client Offerings, Consultative Approach, Mindsets, Pricing Advice
It was a well-meaning and not uncommon introduction. A very good long-standing client, a couple who had successfully built a number of businesses, asked if their daughter, Jess, could come in for “a one-on-one chat.” They said that at 34, Jess was thinking about a...
by Jim Stackpool | Dec 1, 2025 | Advice Clients, adviser fees, capacity to serve, Client Offerings, Fee For Service, Ideal Advice Client, Median Fees, Minimum Fees, Minimum Pricing, Pricing Advice, uplifts
Wayne is a client of mine. He has a problem with two of his clients, Tom and Jerry. Tom is paying Wayne $22,800 a year and rarely makes contact. Jerry is paying $10,780 and is constantly in contact. They have opposite problems. But they are paying for similar value....
by Jim Stackpool | Nov 3, 2025 | Advice Clients, Brand Development, Client Care, Client Offerings, Delivering Value, Niche Market
Most founders of advice dream about this. The niche that fills the new business pipeline with quality opportunities, keeps clients coming back, and doesn’t depend on one subject-matter-expert adviser to survive. Is there such a thing as the perfect advice niche? I saw...
by Jim Stackpool | Jun 19, 2024 | Activity v Productivity, Advice Clients, Advice Clients, Advice Conversations, Advice is not a Product, Certainty Advice, Client Offerings, Future of Financial Advice, Leadership, stages of growth, Successful On Purpose, Value Proposition
I’m a COBOL programmer. We moved out of our family home of 32 years last weekend, and I found an old coding template with a few punch cards that I have kept since the late 1970s. I didn’t think I was a hoarder (maybe?). It took me back to when the talent...
