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 | May 11, 2026 | Advice Clients, Advice Conversations, advice skills, best practice, Certainty Advice, client conversations, Client Meetings, Complexity, Consultative Approach, Delivering Value, Meetings, Quality Advice, skills, valuable advice, Valuable Lessons, value, Value of Advice
“We just want flexibility.” “We’d like some options.” “We haven’t really thought about the details yet.” Advice teams have heard versions of these responses from hundreds of clients, probably hundreds of times. And if you’re like most advice teams, you’ve accepted...
by Jim Stackpool | Apr 27, 2026 | Best Interests, best practice, Brand Development, Business Performance, Client Offerings, Complexity, Consequences, Consultative Approach, Delivering Value, dependency, Engagements, Financial Complexity, Productivity, Profitability, Retention, Separation of advice from product, valuable advice, value, Value Proposition, Wealth Management
Here’s a question that will tell you a lot about your firm’s positioning and pricing approach. When a qualified prospect meets your team for the first time, where do those vital initial conversations focus? If the answer is the prospect’s specific...
by Jim Stackpool | Feb 16, 2026 | Access Price, adviser fees, capacity to serve, Complexity, Delivering Value, value, Value Proposition, worth
Last week, I told you about a recent client – Carlos, the 50-year-old Melbourne-based writer who agreed to a $12,000 engagement for an advice relationship despite having only $135,000 in super. Advisers Matt and Kath could charge that fee because their fees are...
by Jim Stackpool | Feb 9, 2026 | adviser fees, Complexity
For most advice teams, Carlos isn’t an ideal advice client. 20 years ago, the Colombian fell in love with a gorgeous Australian working at his local bar in Barichara, Colombia. They hit it off, he immigrated, and they married. They started life in her hometown,...
by Jim Stackpool | Feb 15, 2024 | Advice Clients, Advice Conversations, Advice is not a Product, advice skills, Certainty Advice, Complexity, Corporations Act, Financial Governance, Financial Paths, Future of Financial Advice, Leadership, LIfe Choices, Rugged Individualist, valuable advice, Value of Advice, Value Proposition
Laurie wants to stop and retire. Originally from New Zealand, he built a landscaping business from nothing in 1986 to the best on the north coast. He reckons he is working harder than ever. Finding and keeping staff is getting harder. Dealing with their attitudes is...
