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Guess what? If you want to know what people really think about something the best way tends to be simply to ask them.
We’re now conducting our 2nd national market survey amongst adviser firms to assess the direction of travel for business models on their journey in the brave new RDR world. What we want to achieve is meaningful data that can help advisers and planners identify the market trends that are affecting them and how they are coping with the change in client and regulatory demands.
The benefits survey’s can provide are numerous:
They offer a high engagement strategy with all stakeholders of the business
They provide accountability in showcasing a desire to collate meaningful data that can enhance performance in service or product design and positioning
Data gleaned can be used to create meaningful marketing products such as white papers, blogs or discussion papers
Client survey’s can significantly increase relationship capital to truly show what clients want and need e.g. fee pricing strategy
Internal survey data can also be used to enhance the firms culture and behaviours, something the regulator are now very interested in
They can benchmark your firms progress against the market and your peers
The results can promote meaningful conversations between market participants and their stakeholder (including the regulator)
The survey’s success is only as good as the data you collect, so this particular survey is focussed on adviser firm business development across 5 key business conduct areas that effects both how clients and the regulator will view the firms performance. They are:
Leadership corporate governance and managing risk: estimating how firms are applying professional standards to their strategies and structure
New business strategies: communicating and applying services for client engagement
Client Service Proposition: offering true value and meeting client needs
Client and stakeholder engagement: How effective firms communication, client touch points are with clients and the regulator
Operations and business support: How efficiently and are firms applying technology and systems to support their services
As I’m sure you’ll know, the problem with surveys is they only tend to provide information for those who design them, so we have factored this in and for those who decide to take this survey they will gain access to information that will show how they are performing against their peers.
All individual responses also remain confidential and are not shared with any third party.
Another problem with survey’s are they are cross sectional i.e. only reflect a snapshot in time, so this is why we are conducting at least one a year to create a longitudinal study that shows the trends for business development and identify any gaps or alignment firms have with client and regulatory needs.
Finally but not least, we’re also offering a small incentive: a chance to win a weekend break for 2 at a hotel of the lucky winners choice. So if you’d like to contribute to a meaningful study, find out how you’re comparing to your peers and a chance for a much deserved break the link to the survey is below. Good luck.