No More Fact Finds

Watch the full video here: https://bit.ly/3EzfXKG

FINANCIAL PLANNERS - Please stop doing ‘Fact Finds’!?

Really. Just stop.

I know you’re going to tell me you ‘have to do them’ because your Compliance Officer and the FCA tell you that you must.

I also know you’re going to say that it’s all about ‘know your client’.?

But is it?

Really?

If someone actually looked at your Fact Find (which is probably a form with lots of dropdown fields and text boxes), would they really ‘know your client’??

No.

They would read a lot of facts, numbers and some dry text in boxes.?

Have you noticed that when you write, your language stiffens, almost like you’re drafting a police report??

‘Mr Smith visited our office today to discuss some concerns about his investment management’...blah, blah, blah...boring!?

That isn’t ‘know your client’.?

Yet the worst thing is, you do actually ‘know your client’.?

I’m sure you could sit and tell me all about your clients’ hopes, dreams, obstacles, anxieties, opportunities, history and a whole lot more.

Because you’re a Financial Planner and that’s what you do. It’s in your soul!?

It’s just all that loveliness is forced into a generic square tin and robbed of its personality.?

Back in the day, I worked for a home service insurance company where each of us had our own ‘round,’ collecting premiums from clients on a weekly basis.?

My old Sales Manager would take me along with him, sharing everything there was to know about each of his clients.

You know, the important stuff, because he’d been part of their lives for years and had seen everything that went on in their house. He’d shared laughs, tears, and experienced life alongside them.?

It was the very essence of ‘know your client’.?

Then the FCA (formerly the FSA) stepped in and told us he couldn’t prove he 'knew his client' because it wasn’t documented (which, to be fair, it wasn’t).

And so, Compliance Consultants were brought in to build forms and computer systems and ‘Fact Finds’ were born.

And a little bit of the soul of Financial Planning died.

But you can help to resurrect it.?

The trick is to stop doing written ‘Fact Finds’ and start doing video notes.

That’s right.

At the end of your client session, grab your phone and imagine you're telling your best mate all about it.

Just hit record and go for it.?

You’ll notice how much more expressive you are when speaking compared to writing and, overall, just more natural and human.?

It comes across more like a story, rather than a police statement to the court.

And the best bit. If your Compliance Officer or the FCA want to review one of your files, they can't just skim through a 'Fact Find' looking for a piece of data.

Oh no!

They have to watch the WHOLE video.

And who knows, maybe a bit of your soul will rub off on them.

Have you ever felt the disconnect between the genuine, human side of your client meetings and the impersonal nature of 'Fact Finds'? How do you bring more personality into your process??

Let me know in the comments below.?

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Watch the full video here: https://bit.ly/3EzfXKG