FINANCIAL PLANNERS – Do you know what’s wrong with Annual Client Review meetings?

Well, first off, the word ‘Review’.

I mean, ‘Review’ suggests that we’re simply basking in the glory of some work we did a while ago.

Or worse – defending it.

We’re not attempting to do anything original or new. Nothing that dramatically improves our client’s life. And don’t kid yourself that using this year’s ISA allowance is either of those.

No, we’re simply reviewing what’s already been done.

Which normally means ‘reviewing’ the performance of our client’s managed investments.

And don’t even get me started on that one.

You’re not actually reviewing performance – you’re reviewing market movements. That’s about as useful as talking about the weather, given that you have no control or influence over either.

Anyway, that aside, I’ll tell you about the bigger problem with client ‘Review’ meetings…

They’re a dumping ground for everyone else’s sh!t.

Yup.

They’re like the spare bedroom with all the crap that doesn’t have anywhere else to go dumped in it.

• Compliance wants an updated Terms of Agreement signed? Pop it in the Annual Review file.
• Paraplanning wants you to get updated valuations on the client’s self-managed policies? Pop it in the Annual Review file.
• The FCA wants you to walk through the client’s last 12 months of charges in granular detail? You guessed it, pop it in the Annual Review file.

Meanwhile, all you want to do is some good old-fashioned Financial Planning work.

Like helping the client review where they are in life and where they want to be.

Teasing out ideas and thoughts on what they really, really want.

Connecting with them on a human level and getting them to see past the numbers – to focus on their own well-being and the future they want for their families.

But this is drowned out by the burden of everyone else’s administrative clutter.

If it were your spare room, Channel 5 would be doing a documentary, replete with men in hazmat suits and a skip.

So, what to do?

Well, just like Tucker and Zammo, you should ‘Just Say No!’.

Not that these things don’t need doing – they are all very noble administrative tasks.

But they need to find their own place.

• If Compliance needs to check the client’s understanding of something, they could always… wait for it… pick up the phone and ask the client themselves.
• If Paraplanning needs an updated valuation, they could just message the client and ask for it.
• If Client Services needs a signed Terms of Business, they can always arrange to see the client at the end of your Annual Review session and get it sorted.

And, if the FCA thinks they know what should be included in your Annual Review meeting, then they could always start their own Financial Planning business and do it themselves. (Did I say that out loud?!)

Here’s the point.

If you sift through all the stuff in your spare room, you’d probably find most of it is either junk or something useful that’s just in the wrong place.

The same goes with our ongoing review meetings.

Look at the list of stuff you’re cramming in and ask, is this junk? Or is it necessary but belongs somewhere else?

Chances are, the only things left after that clear-out will be the human conversations

And they’re something worth reviewing.