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 13, 2026 | Activity v Productivity, Benchmarks, Business Performance, Capacity-To-Serve, Competitive pressures, Complexity, Consequences, Goals, growth, Growth Stress, Hiring advisers, Hiring Team Members, Measures of Success, Productivity, stages of growth, Talent
Charmeon runs a $1.8m advice firm. She has just hired another junior adviser. Her plan: hit $3m by 2030. She left a big bank in 2018, starting with no clients. She is excited about her firm’s future. She has a great team, good clients, aligned centres of influence,...
by Jim Stackpool | Jun 9, 2026 | Business Performance, Client Offerings, Competitive pressures, Cost-To-Serve, Fee For Service, Financial Complexity, Future of Financial Advice, Pricing Advice, Profitability
Australians are anxious. NAB’s Consumer Stress Index recently hit its highest level since 2014, driven by what most of us already knew – that the cost of groceries, fuel, utilities, rent, and mortgages is grinding people down. Despite so much to be...
by Jim Stackpool | Jun 1, 2026 | Business Performance, Consultative Approach, Leadership, Pricing Advice, Value Proposition
Many senior advisers at advice firms cling to a quiet but often false assumption. They usually don’t say it out loud. It’s a very influential assumption. Particularly in client meetings, discussing workflows, and when making hiring decisions. The assumption is this:...
by Jim Stackpool | May 25, 2026 | Best Interests, best practice, Business Performance, Capacity-To-Serve, Growth Stress, Hiring Team Members
Nathan’s spreadsheet looked perfect. His cost-to-serve model showed a team of six costing $520,000, generating $1.4 million in revenue, with a margin on every client segment. On paper, the firm was thriving. Day-to-day, however, Nathan was drowning. His two...
