We do bulk imports (override and append) for clients on a daily basis, but has never tried it for maintaining User data. And since I was tasked to update a field (Region Manager Name) for all users, I think doing a bulk override would be the most practical way. But I can't seem to figure out the correct field key to use for the User Entity ID. Is there like a list of the correct Field Keys for the Users data source?

Thank you 😊

In my last video, I (maybe) sold you on the benefits of niching. But it's not all sunshine and ewoks – you're going to have to get comfortable with ways of doing business that may seem counterintuitive at first. 

So, in this video, let's explore some of the potential downsides of going down this path: 

Could your practice turn more profit? Business Health have proven that advice businesses who successfully focus on the three core pillars of client engagement, business planning and staff management have seen a profit boost of more than 100%. Join us for an unmissable session into the top drivers of profit, and learn what others are doing in these areas to unlock the hidden profit in their practice.

With expertise from,

•  Kerry Ong - Iress facilitator,
• Rod Bertino - Principal & Owner, Business Health,
• Simon Clifford - CEO & Owner, Adviser FP, and
• Jeff Thurecht - CEO & Senior Adviser, Evalesco Financial Services
  
  this presents a unique opportunity to boost profit in your business.
  
  Register for the webinar Here

The recent launch of Profit Booster continues to attract a lot of interest and feedback.

This unique online tool offers business owners objective and independent insights as well as positive suggestions to further the "health" of their practice. It's also supported by a wide range of educational, thought-leading and research-based material. 

The Profit Booster is simple, quick, informative and exclusive to Advisely members. Why not check it out?

While the Profit Booster quantifies the average profit uplift achieved by those firms who regularly seek feedback from their clients, Business Health’s CATScan client satisfaction research continues to show that "relationship" is the highest-performing key performance indicator of the nine areas we ask clients to rate their adviser on.

Verbatim comments further reinforce this idea: 91% expect to maintain an ongoing business relationship, while 87% are happy to refer. Happy days!

Not so fast, though.

In our experience, a quiet client isn’t necessarily a happy one. Unexpected or unforeseen "stuff" – whether it's a friend's health issue, negative media coverage of the profession or new, complex product styles – can sometimes intervene and create a moment for the client to pause and reconsider.  

There will always be "things" happening in their lives and sometimes you have to listen very carefully to hear what's not being said.

You can't expect every client to stick around forever, of course. But if you're losing too many, it's a good time to assess your retention rate over the last 12 months. How does it compare to the previous year? 

Remember that losing clients is the lag indicator. If you want some lead indicators that clients might be at risk, consider the following: 

Early warning indicators that your relationship could be called into question

The first sign is waning enthusiasm. Do you have clients who are:

• Not following through on what they committed to do?
• Tardy when returning your calls, emails or requests for information?
• Pulling out of agreed meetings – in person or virtual?
• Not opening your communications?

Next, how do you feel about it? How do you think the last meeting went? Did you feel good about it, and did they? Did you lock in a time for the next meeting – and are you looking forward to it?

Expanding this further, how do your staff feel? They're invariably the first point of contact for clients, so have they detected any negative signs? 

If you're having trouble assessing, the client's "vibe", consider: are they still happy to refer you to their family and friends? What are your referral and conversion rates?

Finally, and this is a big one: do you know the kids? 

Most of the research we come across suggests that upon the death of one of their parents, the kids intend to move their parents’ assets away from the adviser. This finding has only recently been reinforced by research from Natixis Investment Managers, which reported that 45% of advisers are concerned that they won’t retain assets from client’s spouses or children following a transfer.

The perception (rightly or wrongly) is that the parents’ adviser isn’t known to them and probably isn’t a good fit. Seems a tad harsh, maybe, but it's their reality for now. 

So, how do you address these problems and avoid any nasty surprises?

Seven of our favourite tips for maintaining client relationships 

Note that, unless stated otherwise, any "fact" item is derived from Business Health research.

1: Set (and exceed) client expectations

On becoming your client, most won’t know what to expect from the relationship. What a wonderful opportunity this presents for you to lay down the ground rules, set out your service standards and address any questions they might have. Expectations are set and met.

And, as your relationship evolves over time, never assume the client knows what you’ve done for them over the last 12 months. Tell them, framing your relationship in terms of what you've done for them – how you've delivered value, in other words. 

Fact: the average revenue/fee per client is $3,852.

2: Ensure the "R" in your CRM refers to "relationship"

There’s so much more to developing and maintaining a quality relationship than product holdings and investment performance.

To be truly effective, your CRM should capture the important relationship-building data about your clients – hobbies, community activities, children’s details, aspirations, dreams and so on. Critically, this information should be maintained and updated on a regular basis.  

Fact: only 4% of practices are holding 20 or more individual pieces of information on each of their key clients. A third (35%) still store fewer than 15 data points, and quite often it's the more personal, key relationship-building information that's missing.

3: Communicate

Our research consistently shows that frequent, meaningful and personalised communications will deepen and enhance every client relationship. And while "communication" incorporates meetings, newsletters, social media, video and events, our view is that there's an important place for "face-to-face" – both through in-person meetings and unprompted "how's things" calls. 

Fact: 27% of Australian practices contacted their clients on at least ten occasions in the last year. These firms were achieving a 43% higher level of profitability (boost).

4: Make the review meeting impactful

The review meeting is the one occasion during the year where you control the narrative. You can reassure and advise the client of the progress to their goals and address any issues they might have.

In 39% of firms, at least one other person (beyond the adviser and client) sits in on the meeting, while 80% of firms report that the average time for a review meeting is between two to 2.5 hours hours.

Fact: reviews are the poorest performing area as rated by clients through Business Health’s CATScan service. There's a big missed opportunity here. 

5: Ensure your range of services are compatible and aligned to clients' evolving needs

There’s no need to dwell here, but as Australian clients continue to grey,  accumulation, saving and protection needs are gradually morphing into retirement, annuities, estate planning, health and aged care. And yet, only 24% of practices plan on expanding their suite of services in the coming 12 months.

Fact: "range of services" has been steadily falling down CATScan’s KPI satisfaction ratings. It's now the third-lowest in the group. 

6: Track your lead indicators

There are a number of indicators that will give you an early "heads-up" regarding the quality of your client relationships. These include referral and retention rates, client satisfaction levels, number of client contacts and client "value-for-fee" metrics.

Track your trends over time and perhaps look into building these indicators into staff job descriptions, annual objectives and incentive programs.

7: Feedback - get it, listen objectively and action as necessary

In our view, it would be highly presumptuous to assess the quality of any client relationship without seeking the input and feedback of the client themselves.

We believe that this feedback should be regularly sought from all clients. In addition to a general satisfaction survey (conducted every 18-24 months), there are several other important events which trigger a survey:

• within one month of coming on board or leaving the firm
• after a client review or special event (such as a seminar)

Crucially, you need to taken in this feedback with an open mind – and act upon it, where appropriate.

Fact: one in four practices (26%) are seeking feedback from their clients, with most of these being conducted internally by the business itself. Practices who actively employ an independent third party to undertake these client surveys are achieving a higher level of profitability (a 91% boost).

We hope this piece encourages you to continue to proactively monitor the satisfaction levels of your clientele, taking nothing for granted.  

For your consideration.

Jennifer was one of the good ones.

She built her business in Adelaide from the ground up, one client at a time, one conversation at a time, one late night at a time. Her motivation was simple: to help people. If someone reached out, she would listen. If they needed advice, she would give it. If they couldn’t quite afford her fee, she would find a way to make it work.

In the beginning, this was her advantage. Clients adored her warmth and generosity. They told their friends, who told their families, and before long, Jennifer’s small practice had become one of the most respected advice firms in South Australia.

When asked what made her successful, Jennifer always smiled and said, “If someone knocks on my door, I’ll help them.”

It was a philosophy that served her well, until it didn’t.

The Tipping Point

Eighteen years later, Jennifer’s firm was an established business with a strong brand, a loyal client base, and a capable team. There were two senior planners, a junior planner, and an administrative team that kept the wheels turning.

On the surface, things looked great. The numbers were steady, the office was full, and the marketing engine was humming. But under the surface, the cracks were showing.

The team was stretched. Deadlines were tighter. The planners were working longer hours. And the feeling in the office, once light and energised, had become quietly strained.

Jennifer noticed it too, but old habits die hard. Whenever the phone rang or a new enquiry came in, she couldn’t bring herself to say no.

“We can fit them in,” she’d tell her team. “It’s what we do.”

The Subtle Realisation

It was during a strategic business session with Back Office Hero that Jennifer’s situation became impossible to ignore.

Her practice metrics were solid, but the story they told wasn’t comforting. Client numbers were up, but margins were flat. Staff satisfaction had dipped. Despite growing revenue, the business was no more profitable than three years earlier.

When Mark from BOH asked why she kept taking on every prospect who came through the door, Jennifer said simply, “Because they need help. If I don’t help them, who will?”

Mark nodded. “That’s admirable,” he said. “But how long can you keep helping everyone without losing the capacity to help anyone well?”

The room went quiet. Jennifer leaned back in her chair. “That’s just how I’ve always done it.”
And there it was, the sentence every experienced planner eventually says aloud.

The Habit of Saying Yes

For Jennifer, helping everyone wasn’t just a business choice, it was part of her identity. It was what had built her success. But what she couldn’t see anymore was that the very habit that made her business grow was now holding it back.

Back Office Hero introduced her to the Ideal Client Calculator, a simple but confronting tool. It showed her, in black and white, what her heart had been avoiding.

A third of her clients were paying less than the cost to serve them. Each new planner increased expenses without improving profit. The business was busy, but not efficient.

Jennifer finally understood what she’d been feeling but couldn’t name, she wasn’t tired because she didn’t love her work anymore. She was tired because her generosity had no boundaries.

The Turning Point

The following weeks were uncomfortable. Change always is.

Jennifer met with her team and showed them the data. She admitted, with her characteristic honesty, that she had been saying yes too often and that it was affecting everyone.

“We’ve been running like we’re still a small firm,” she said. “But we’re not. We’ve grown, and our systems need to grow too. We need to protect what makes us good, not wear it out.”

Together, they revisited the client model. They defined what an ideal client looked like, someone who valued advice, sought an ongoing relationship, and saw the worth in paying appropriately for it.

From there, they refined service packages, introduced clearer boundaries, and built systems that allowed the team to focus on clients who matched the firm’s purpose.

When new enquiries came in, they were screened using the Ideal Client Calculator.

Prospects who fell below the threshold were referred elsewhere.

It wasn’t rejection, it was stewardship.

The Gentle Shift

Habits don’t change with declarations, they change with decisions, made quietly, one after another.

Jennifer began to pause before saying yes. She looked at each opportunity through two lenses, does it help the client, and does it serve the business? If it didn’t meet both, she learned to pass.

Her planners followed suit. The office felt lighter. There was time again for team meetings, professional development, and those long-lost client coffees that build loyalty money can’t buy.

For Jennifer, the hardest part wasn’t the system or the pricing, it was the silence that came after saying no. It felt unnatural at first. But as the months passed, that silence began to sound like clarity.

With fewer, better-aligned clients, her planners delivered deeper advice. The admin team finished on time. Client satisfaction improved. And for the first time in years, Jennifer left the office before dark.

She hadn’t just changed her business. She’d changed a habit that had quietly been running her life.

The Moment of Clarity

At the end of the next financial year, Jennifer sat down with her team to review their progress. Revenue was up. Profit margins had improved. Staff turnover was down.
She looked around the table at a team that finally had room to breathe and smiled.

“This is what I always wanted,” she said. “To run a business that helps people and gives us a good life too.”

Mark from BOH smiled back. “That’s what happens when you replace habit with structure,” he said. “You haven’t lost your generosity. You’ve just given it direction.”

The Lesson

Jennifer’s story is familiar to anyone who’s spent years in advice. The drive to help, to say yes, to be the trusted one, is why most planners start. But left unchecked, that same instinct can slowly strangle a business.

There’s no shame in it. It’s human nature. We repeat what once worked until it no longer does.

But growth demands evolution.

The planner who wants to help everyone eventually learns that the only sustainable way to do so is by helping the right people, in the right way, through a business that supports the promise it makes.

That’s what the Ideal Client Calculator helped Jennifer see. It wasn’t just about profit; it was about focus. It showed her that systems and boundaries don’t reduce compassion, they preserve it.

The New Habit

Months later, a younger adviser from Adelaide reached out to Jennifer for guidance.
“Do you ever feel bad turning people away?” he asked.

Jennifer smiled. “Not anymore. I used to think I was saying no to them. But really, I was saying yes to my team, to my family, and to the clients who trust us most. That’s a better kind of help.”

The adviser nodded, thoughtfully. Jennifer could see something of her younger self in his eyes, eager, kind, and determined to do good. She hoped he’d learn the same lesson a little sooner.

Because when you stop trying to be everything to everyone, you discover you can finally be something meaningful to many.

Closing Thought

Back Office Hero doesn’t tell planners to care less. It teaches them how to care wisely. Systems, boundaries, and metrics aren’t barriers to kindness; they’re the structure that allows it to last.

And for Jennifer, the planner from Adelaide who once tried to help everyone, that realisation changed everything.

Now, she runs a business that thrives, a team that breathes, and a life that feels balanced again.

The habit of saying yes will always whisper, but she’s learned to answer it with something stronger, clarity.

And that’s the quiet triumph of a planner who finally learned that helping everyone can sometimes mean starting with yourself.

Understanding how your business compares to your marketplace peers can provide a critical perspective to your planning process. As Peter Drucker once put it, “Only outside a business are there results, opportunities and threats.”

It’s for this reason that Business Health has been delighted to be a part of the Advisely initiative and has appreciated the opportunity to provide practical, meaningful support to the advice community. 

One particular area where we’ve strived to deliver value is through our data, which has been largely derived from Australian advice firms completing at least one of our unique business diagnostics. By consolidating results, we’ve been able to develop a set of Australian advice firm benchmarks and profit drivers, and we’re excited to see them underpin the new Advisely Profit Booster tool.

Powered by Business Health data, the Profit Booster instantly identifies the most impactful actions a business owner can take for maximum profit uplift. Covering clients, staff and business, the tool allows owners to compare their practice against other advice firms. 

Completing the Profit Booster will provide advice practices with:

• an awareness of what their colleagues and peers are (or are not) doing
• an insight into how they could be performing and what they can learn from better-performing practices (and what pitfalls they can avoid from poorer-performing ones)
• an understanding of their biggest contributors to profitability and what steps they can take to implement plans, supported by Advisely’s library of “how to” support material.

So, how can you get the most out of this new tool?

1: Start now

While there’s probably no wrong time to test your business, there will always be a really good time to do it – and that time is now! It will only take a few minutes and you’ll learn so much.  

2: Don’t gild the lily

Ensure the data you input is accurate, current and honest. If your own data is somewhat unreliable, you could be creating a minefield of misinformation for yourself. 

3: Keep an open mind

Remember that this data has been contributed by people just like you – people who’ve shared what and how they’re managing their practice.

While you’ll receive your results for nine key profit drivers, our experience suggests some will be more relevant than others for you today. Begin by focusing on the KPIs most relevant to you and your business right now.

Also, don’t beat yourself up if your results are down on your peers – the good news is that you now know, with some certainty, how you compare. And, courtesy of Advisely, there’s plenty of help available. 

4: Commit to implementation 

Armed with your Profit Booster feedback, the real question becomes, “What should I do about it?” 

As we wrote recently – and to paraphrase the words of famed AFL player, coach and all-round inspiring Australian of the Year 2025, Neale Daniher – “when all is said and done, more is said than done.”

It’s time to commit to action, share your results with your people – including your B/PDM, coach, mentor, and whoever you turn to for advice and guidance – and then decide your response and the steps necessary to implement. Document those steps, incorporating them into your business plan, and then do it! 

Sounds simple, we know, but our latest analysis reveals that just one in four Australian advice firms have documented their business plans for the next 12 months.

5: Ignore the “not nows”

It’s our hope that every practice will invest a few minutes to complete a Profit Booster for their own business. It’s simple, quick and informative, and there’s no right or wrong outcome.

Don’t let the following excuses distract you from boosting bottom-line profitability:

• “My business is different, so I won’t be able to compare it to any other”: Maybe it is, but there are some common drivers of success across all business models.
  
  
• “I’m happy with my progress right now”: Ignorance can indeed be bliss, but not forever. Maybe you’ll pick up some tips to make it even better!
  
  
• “I don’t have the time”: Really? It will take you less than five minutes.
• “I might need help interpreting my results and deciding what to do”: Advisely has a host of support material available that is free for all users of the Profit Booster tool and we (Business Health) are always available to help.
  
  
• “I don’t have ready access to all of my recent business data”: You don’t need it! To complete the Profit Booster, you don’t need any of your business financials or even have access to the P&L or business balance sheet. 

Let us know how you go – we’d love to hear from you.

For your consideration.

Every week we speak with practice owners who thought their merger would be straightforward – and six months later, they’re dealing with staff walkouts, duplicated systems or silent boardroom battles. 

The numbers stacked up. But the human and operational fit didn’t, and the deal is now worth less, not more. 

The following three examples highlight the very real red flags that can derail advice practice mergers if they’re left unchecked.

Case one: the revolving door 

A $3.5 million practice acquired a smaller boutique to build scale. Within six months, a senior adviser and practice manager had both resigned, citing “lack of clarity” and “different ways of working.” 

The larger practice assumed the smaller team would simply slot into existing roles and systems. Instead, SOA turnaround time slowed to over 90 days, client handovers kept being pushed back and service levels dropped.

Their clients noticed, too – referrals dried up and retention slipped. Integration costs ballooned, far outweighing the projected revenue uplift. 

Sound familiar? We’ve all seen this movie before and, spoiler alert, it’s not a rom com. It’s the one where your best adviser walks out halfway through the plot and the ending costs twice as much as you budgeted. 

Case two: the tech tug-of-war 

Two mid-sized practices merged, each with strong but different systems. Both insisted their CRM and process library was “non-negotiable.” 

One team swore by Xplan with custom threads; the other refused to let go of their well-oiled Worksorted setup. Neither side would budge. 

The result was three months of stalemates, duplicated efforts and data quality issues that left the team frustrated and inefficient. What should have been a capacity win became a costly bottleneck – worse, the inconsistent records created compliance risks the firm couldn’t ignore.  

Case three: the culture clash 

Two advice firms merged with the goal of creating one “high-performing” business. On paper, it made sense: profitable businesses, strong client bases and complementary services. 

But culturally, they couldn’t have been further apart. One firm had a casual, family-style atmosphere – flexible hours, Friday drinks and lots of collaboration. The other ran on structure: strict start times, formal policies and a clear chain of command. 

At first, both sides tried to adapt. But within months, friction set in. The “family” team felt micromanaged. The “structured” team felt the other group lacked discipline.

Jokes started in the office about “us vs them.” Staff stopped sharing ideas, silos were created and cross-team projects slowed to a crawl. 

By the end of year one, staff turnover had spiked, client experience was inconsistent and the promise of “one strong team” had turned into two divided camps under one roof. 

As one adviser told us, “It feels like we never really merged. We just share an office.” 

Five red flags 

So, what do these three cases tell us about merger risks? We can identify five red flags:

1. Staff uncertainty: People don’t know if or how their role will change, their reporting lines or future prospects. 
   
   
2. Process paralysis: Two “non-negotiable” ways of doing things clash and slow everything down. 
   
   
3. System stalemate: Multiple CRMs, duplicated data, errors creeping in, clients getting mixed messages. 
   
   
4. Leadership disconnect: Owners present unity but disagree behind closed doors (or worse, in front of the team). 
   
   
5. Culture drift: One practice’s culture dominates, leaving the other team feeling disengaged and overlooked. 

If you’re spotting even one of these red flags, your merger could already be on shaky ground.

These stories aren’t rare; they play out in advice practices every day. And by the time firms call us in to help, the costs are higher, the risks bigger and the fixes slower. 

That’s exactly why Zestt Consulting and Tangelo Consulting created the Fit to Merge Assessment – a structured, practical review of your people, culture, systems and processes. It’s designed to spot the red flags early so you can align your team, streamline your systems, and protect the value of your deal. 

If you’re planning a merger or acquisition, don’t leave the fit to chance. The Fit to Merge Assessment helps you anticipate risks and avoid the costly surprises. 

The risk isn’t in the numbers – it’s in the fit. 

Mergers and acquisitions in the financial advice sector are on the rise – and for good reason.

Scale brings efficiency, broader capability, and resilience in a changing regulatory and economic landscape. But while the strategic logic of merging is often sound, the execution is where many practices stumble.

The reality is that most advice businesses are built around relationships, culture and deeply embedded ways of working. These elements don’t show up in a financial model, but they’re often the reason a merger either thrives or quietly unravels.

Beyond the balance sheet

Legal and financial due diligence are essential, of course, but they’re only part of the picture. What’s often overlooked is “merge readiness”: the ability of two businesses to integrate not just their operations but their people, systems and values.

M&A failures rarely make headlines,  but they’re felt deeply within businesses. Global research shows that 70% to 90% of M&A deals fail to achieve their intended goals, largely due to poor cultural alignment and lack of team integration.

Staff disengagement, cultural clashes, duplicated systems, and client dissatisfaction are common symptoms of poor integration. These issues don’t just slow growth; they erode trust and momentum.

Without a clear transition plan, even the most strategic merger can become a drain on leadership capacity. And when compliance frameworks and workflows aren’t aligned, the risk of regulatory missteps increases – along with operational inefficiencies.

Successful mergers require alignment across three key dimensions:

• Culture: do the teams share similar values, leadership styles and client philosophies?
  
  
• Process and compliance: Are workflows compatible? Can compliance frameworks be harmonised without disruption? How do we make policies consistent?
  
  
• Capacity: Do leaders have the bandwidth to manage change while continuing to run the business?

Without clarity in these areas, even well-intentioned mergers can lead to disengagement, inefficiencies and client attrition.

A smarter way to merge

Forward-thinking advice businesses are beginning to treat M&A as a transformation, not just a transaction. This means investing in pre-merger assessments, transition planning and post-merger integration – with the same rigour applied to financial modelling.

Some innovative approaches include:

• Cultural mapping: Using diagnostic tools to assess cultural compatibility before the deal is signed.
  
  
• Digital twin planning: Creating a virtual model of the merged business to simulate workflows, client journeys and compliance processes.
  
  
• Leadership capacity audits: Evaluating whether key leaders have the time, tools and support to lead through change.

These strategies unlock the full potential of the merger by ensuring it’s built on a foundation of alignment and readiness.

Help is at hand

For those advice businesses considering a merger, support is available. Zestt Consulting and Tangelo Advice Consulting offer a collaborative framework designed to address the human and operational sides of integration.

• Zestt focuses on people, culture and change management, helping teams navigate the emotional and behavioural shifts that come with M&A.
  
  
• Tangelo brings expertise in systems, compliance and process alignment, ensuring the merged business is scalable, efficient and future-fit.

The “fit to merge" framework

Our approach starts with a discovery workshop – helping businesses assess their readiness and identify critical gaps. From there, we offer customised transition planning, including IT and HR integration, client engagement strategies and ongoing support.

We don't focus on avoiding problems; the approach is all about unlocking the full potential of your merger and lifting energy, capability and long-term value.

Don’t leave it to chance

M&A is a journey. And like any journey, preparation matters. If you’re exploring a merger, now is the time to ask the deeper questions. 

We utilise a thread for our review process that indicates different tasks such as:

1. Conduct review meeting
2. Update XPLAN and conduct research
3. Lodge paraplanning request
4. Complete SOA
5. Finalise and send SOA

I would like to understand if there is a report in EXCEL format that I can run to show the timeframe between each tasks (e.g. How long does it take for the paraplanning request to be submitted after the review meeting, or how long does it take for the SOA to be completed from the time the paraplanning request is lodged).

If at all possible, can this report be automatically generated and emailed?

Help?

Thanks, Sandy

Introduction

Financial planners often commence their professional journey by welcoming virtually any client to establish a revenue base. While this approach is practical in the early years, it frequently results in a heterogeneous client base - an inefficient blend of profitable and low-value relationships.

The Ideal Client Calculator, developed by Back Office Hero (BOH), provides a systematic method for transitioning from ad hoc growth to strategic client selection. This shift enhances profitability, reduces operational burden, and improves enterprise value by aligning client profiles with the firm’s long-term objectives.

Purpose of the Ideal Client Calculator

This tool equips advice firms with a structured framework for defining, evaluating, and managing the types of clients they wish to attract and retain. Rather than relying on instinct or legacy relationships, it introduces clear criteria that guide client selection based on financial metrics, strategic alignment, and behavioural compatibility.

It enables the business to:

• Clearly define the core characteristics of an ideal client, based on both financial and behavioural criteria.
• Make more informed and consistent decisions when determining which prospects should proceed to onboarding.
• Gradually transition out clients who no longer align with the firm’s strategic direction or operational efficiency goals.
• Establish a replicable, objective, and data-informed framework to guide client acceptance and maintain practice integrity

This tool is most effective when used early in the annual Business System Calendar, ensuring that client selection remains intentional, strategic, and aligned with the firm’s evolving business model and capacity.

Methodology and Application

The Ideal Client Calculator is primarily used by financial planners and client service managers as a practical tool to bring structure and discipline to client selection. It is typically:

• Applied during the prospecting phase to determine eligibility for a Discovery Meeting
• Reviewed annually to reassess and refine client entry thresholds
• Referenced when evaluating whether existing clients continue to align with the firm’s strategic focus and service model.

Observed Outcomes

Firms who implement the Ideal Client Calculator consistently report noticeable improvements in both day-to-day operations and long-term business outcomes. By embedding client selection into a repeatable, criteria-based process, these practices shift from reactive decision-making to strategic management of their client base.

They commonly experience:

• Enhanced clarity in client acceptance decisions.
• Improved metrics in client fee averages and FUM per client.
• Increased alignment between service expectations and delivery.
• Decreased planner frustration and administrative burden.
• Improved staff confidence in declining poor-fit referrals.

One practitioner noted, “We used the tool to politely say ‘no’ to a referral that would have been time-heavy and low-revenue. That decision alone saved hours of admin each month.”

Challenges Addressed

Prior to implementing the Ideal Client Calculator, many financial planning businesses operate without a clear framework for client selection. This often leads to inconsistent onboarding decisions, resource strain, and a client base that grows in size but not in quality.

Common issues preceding tool implementation include:

• Lack of clear client eligibility criteria.
• Pressure to accept referrals despite misalignment. 
• Inconsistent onboarding decisions across team members.

The tool reframes these challenges by establishing that poor client fit diminishes business performance and long-term value.

Philosophical Foundations

Back Office Hero’s philosophy is built on a clear truth: not all clients are good for business. Every client introduces time, compliance, and capacity costs - and when these outweigh the value a client brings, the business loses efficiency, focus, and margin.

The Ideal Client Calculator reflects our belief that client selection should be a business decision, not a personal one. A systemised firm must protect its resources and ensure that every client admitted contributes to its long-term viability and profitability.

To maintain this discipline, BOH recommends:

• Admitting only those clients who enhance core business metrics like fee levels, FUM, and service alignment.
• Reassessing what defines an “ideal client” on an annual basis.
• Respectfully transitioning clients who no longer fit the firm’s strategic direction.
• Prioritising firm-wide standards above individual planner preference or sentiment.

This approach ensures the business remains aligned, intentional, and scalable - laying the groundwork for a more valuable and sustainable practice.

Data and Inputs Required

For the Ideal Client Calculator to deliver reliable and strategic outcomes, the business must first ensure it has access to accurate and consistent data. Without a strong foundation of clean inputs, the tool becomes subjective - undermining the consistency and objectivity it is designed to deliver.

Effective use of the tool requires:

• Clean client data, including revenue per client, FUM, tenure, and service activity.
• Financial benchmarks derived from the top-performing 50% of clients.
• Defined minimum fee thresholds and a clear list of available service packages.
• Qualitative characteristics such as value alignment, responsiveness, and coachability.
• Clarity around which client segments the business is actively targeting.
• A nominated team member responsible for maintaining the tool and updating assumptions annually.

The Ideal Client Calculator is most effective when used in conjunction with the Official Client List, enabling the practice to track client suitability, identify exceptions, and manage profile changes over time. Together, these tools reinforce disciplined client curation and provide visibility into the evolving shape of the business.

Related Tools and Integration

The Ideal Client Calculator is complemented by:

• Official Client List – identifies scalable, profitable clients.
• Client Ranking Tool – segments clients by effort, profitability, and risk.
• Information Memorandum – incorporates client selection criteria into business planning.

Recommended timeline:
    • July – Review Official Client List.
    • August – Update the Ideal Client Calculator.

Client Criteria and Variables

Common evaluation metrics include:

• Minimum annual fee (e.g., $5,500 including GST)
• Age range (e.g., 45-65
• Willingness to follow advice 
• Communication preferences
• Document compliance and review attendance

Implementation Guidelines

Effective rollout involves establishing clear decision-making criteria and ensuring the tool is embedded into the client onboarding workflow. It should be championed by the Office Manager and reviewed annually to remain aligned with evolving business priorities.

• Aligning the team on firm-level client selection criteria.
• Training administrative staff on triage procedures.
• Educating referral partners on ideal client profiles. 
• Defining clear scoring thresholds.
• Documenting exceptions for future review.

Alignment With Organisational Strategy

The Ideal Client Calculator supports BOH’s broader mission to guide advice firms through a structured transition - from informal, founder-led decision-making to systemised, scalable business operations.

It helps shift the business:

• From founder-driven judgement to consistent, objective processes
• From ad hoc onboarding to strategic client curation
• From instinct-based choices to data-informed decisions

By embedding client quality standards into daily workflows, the tool reduces key-person dependency, strengthens succession readiness, and supports consistent service delivery - all essential for building a transfer-ready business.

Conclusion

The Ideal Client Calculator is not merely a screening tool; it is a strategic asset. When applied effectively, it improves profitability, reduces planner burden, and fosters business continuity. Combined with the Official Client List, it empowers practices to clarify who they serve, why they serve them, and what long-term value that creates.

Mark Lewin

Founder

Back Office Hero

Having worked with hundreds of financial planning practices across Australia, I’ve been lucky enough to have a kind of backstage view of the industry. 

From solo advisers to huge practices, it’s clear that the desire to grow is strong. The Advisely Growth Survey revealed that over 80% of advisers are looking to bring in new clients this year, but nearly half of them admitted they’re struggling to make it happen. Most industries would probably say the same, but their issue would be marketing or lead generation. 

With our industry, however, it’s often less obvious barriers that are holding practices back.

One of the most consistent challenges I hear about is the sheer weight of compliance. Advisers genuinely want to help more people, but the regulatory framework in Australia has become incredibly complex. Between ASIC, DBFO and the legacy of FASEA, it’s hard for practices to keep up. The rules change frequently, interpretations vary and the consequences of a misstep are significant. 

For some, the effort it takes just to onboard a new client has become so administratively taxing that they’ve paused their marketing altogether. It’s not that demand is lacking; it’s that the backend work required is daunting.

Financial pressure adds another layer. The cost of delivering advice – from wages and software subscriptions to compliance overheads – continues to rise, but many practices haven’t revisited their pricing models in years.

Some are hesitant to raise fees, worried about the effect and reaction on clients, while others simply haven’t tracked their profitability closely enough to know if expanding would actually help or hurt. 

Growth often seems like the solution to these issues. But without a clear understanding of margins or capacity, expansion becomes risky.

Finding and retaining quality staff – whether paraplanners, CSOs or junior advisers – seems to be the biggest issue our advisers raise to us. The flow-on effects of regulatory fatigue have driven many advisers out of the industry, and smaller practices can’t always compete with larger ones when it comes to salary or structured career progression. 

This creates bottlenecks. Advisers want to grow their client base, but they’re reluctant to push for growth if it means burning out the existing team. I’ve seen practices hold off on marketing campaigns purely because they’re unsure how they’d service the influx of clients.

And then there’s the issue of operational infrastructure. Many practices, especially smaller ones, are still relying on manual or obsolete processes; systems that worked fine when the business was smaller start to fall apart under the pressure of growth. 

CRMs are often underused, task management becomes chaotic and reporting turns into a weekly scramble. Often, everything still hinges on the principal – and when they’re busy or away, things stall. Practices that invest in scalable infrastructure tend to weather growth more smoothly, but it’s a big ask when margins are already tight. 

An adviser said to me recently that he needs a financial adviser for his practice. He loves seeing clients and helping them get their financial position in order, but his own planning – business forecasting, budgeting, scenario modelling – feels reactive, not proactive. He just couldn’t get his head into it. 

This isn’t uncommon: I’ve met practices that know their revenue figures down to the cent but still feel unsure as to whether they can afford to hire, or how much they’re paying for their software. When planning principles are applied internally with the same rigour as client work, decisions become clearer and more confident.

The big takeaway is that growing a financial planning practice isn’t just about increasing client numbers. It’s about maturing the business structurally, operationally and strategically. Growth doesn’t happen just because the client numbers are increasing but because the right foundations are laid and the practice evolves to support that ambition. 

I’ve seen firsthand that when practices invest in systems, define their messaging, support their staff and treat their own planning as seriously as they do their clients’, the growth doesn’t just follow – it sticks.

Is there a better approach to this? We want to use the portal to share EOFY reports etc with these entities in a secure fashion and the portal seems like the logical place to do it, but I'm not keen on maintaining two records in order to do this.

Wondering if further development of this is already on the roadmap?

Most advisers want more of the right clients, but few have a plan to attract them. Developed by Dr. Katherine Hunt, this guide introduces the Organic Growth Model: a proven framework to help you build authority, develop high-trust referral networks, and create a digital brand that connects with clients who need you most.

Please ensure you've watched Episode 1: Organic growth bootcamp before completing the quiz.

Most advisers want more of the right clients, but few have a plan to attract them. Developed by Dr. Katherine Hunt, this guide introduces the Organic Growth Model: a proven framework to help you build authority, develop high-trust referral networks, and create a digital brand that connects with clients who need you most.

Become an Advisely member here to access the free resource.

If you want to scale with confidence, every high-impact client meeting must become a system. And that system starts with standardisation – not of the advice, but of the structure.

Systemise the Conversation – Not Just the Paperwork

The core of a great meeting system is a pre-designed checklist or script that aligns with your service model. This doesn’t mean a robotic pitch. It means your practice has decided the key messages, disclosures, and touchpoints every client should hear, and every planner should cover.

This script links directly to a tailored presentation deck. Together, they guide the conversation in a way that feels natural but ensures compliance, consistency, and quality across your entire team. Whether it’s super contributions, estate planning, or explaining fees, the same message is heard – regardless of which adviser is in the room.

Now the magic happens downstream.

Because the file note template has been written with the script and deck in mind, documentation becomes fast, thorough, and audit-proof. No more gaps. No more ambiguity. Instead, you have a meeting system that not only educates clients but protects your business.

From Chaos to Coordination – One Meeting at a Time

When you treat meetings as repeatable experiences rather than one-off conversations, you unlock operational clarity.

Let’s take the Annual Review. If every adviser starts with a discovery script, shares a visual roadmap tailored to the client’s stage, and wraps up with a checklist-driven file note, you’ve created an advice experience that is consistent, scalable, and delegation-friendly. A paraplanner reading the note doesn’t have to guess – they know what happened. An offshore team can pre-fill the review deck or prep documents with confidence. And compliance knows where to look to verify outcomes.

Best of all, clients feel the professionalism. They feel seen, heard, and remembered – because the system was built to deliver that.

The Real Payoff – Margin, Morale, and Market Value

When your meetings are systemised:

• Capacity scales. Planners spend less time documenting and more time advising.
• Morale lifts. Admin and support teams stop chasing details and start managing workflow.
• Compliance risk drops. Your audit trail becomes robust by default.
• Business value grows. You’re no longer a collection of individual styles. You’re a business with a playbook.

Ultimately, your client meetings become an asset – not a risk.

Conclusion

High-value client interactions are too important to leave to chance or memory. Building a meeting system – anchored in a script, deck, and templated file note - ensures that every adviser delivers a consistent, high-quality experience, every time. This isn’t about removing personality. It’s about removing doubt.

And the practicality? Don’t pretend you’ll build this in two weeks. Start small. Test. Tinker. Then each year, when your office shuts down for three days to improve procedures, you’ll make real progress. Within three years, you’ll have busted the myth that this is too hard to start. It’s not. You just did it – one process at a time.

Mark Lewin

Kylie Springall is on a mission to provide retirement advice to everyday Australians. Offering education and advice options to suit a range of clients, Kylie needs to master her marketing to bring in the clients she needs to hit her revenue goals. In episode 1, Kylie sits down with growth expert Dr. Katherine Hunt to tackle her growth challenge and develop a strategy to support her ambitious plans. 

Access the member-exclusive tool below to claim CPD.

 

At Business Health, we subscribe wholeheartedly to Peter Drucker's idea that "you can't manage what you can't measure.”

There's a lesser-known Drucker quote that's equally important, though: "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it."

So, to the question at hand: how are your growth targets going?

I attended a progress-to-plan meeting for a practice recently and I was impressed with both the quality of adviser performance data available as well as how openly they discussed the company and individual results. They chose the important metrics of revenue and client numbers when comparing their budget for each adviser, and some good discussion was had around the table as they reviewed their progress to plan.

It was obvious that each adviser was at a different stage in their development, and this had been recognised in the initial budgeting process.

While some businesses – like this one – are getting better at monitoring their progress, many more still don't have access to the data they need to measure KPIs efficiently and effectively.  Worse, many businesses don't even have a documented plan or an agreed budget to measure progress towards.

Interestingly, some businesses have the opposite problem: they have access to so much data that they aren't sure what data to use. Paralysis by analysis, if you will.

Whichever category your business falls into, we think the following five metrics represent the essential components of any practice's growth plan. Each of these should be measured in a regular meeting: 

1. Number of prospects introduced to the business: How many prospects were introduced to the business and, just as importantly, how were they introduced?
   
   Monitoring the source of each new client – whether it's referrals, centres of influence or social media – will provide valuable insights into the success of your marketing efforts.
   
   
2. Number of prospects that became clients: This is also an important metric. What's the quality of the prospect? What did they know about us before we meet them? How are our referrers positioning our offer?
   
   
3. Revenue per new client: No surprise here. What was charged for the initial advice? What ongoing fee was agreed to? Was it consistent for each client, and for each adviser? Did they meet the minimum charge guidelines?
   
   
4. Ongoing revenue per client: Similarly, what about existing clients? What was the total fee paid by them? Did it meet the minimum fee required? If not, why not (and what are you going to do about it)? 
   
   
5. Number of adviser meetings: How many client meetings were held, whether face-to-face or virtual? How many were with new clients, and how many were with existing clients? Were meetings held with centres of influence/third party referral partners? Was it within expectations?

There could be many more metrics to cover off than these five, but they're a good start for any advice business. Of course, implementation of action items from the business plan fits in here, too, but I'll save that for another article. 

Consider what drives success in your business. How will that success be measured? Get the data and make some decisions.

And don’t forget: if you're having trouble, ask for help.

Background

Client Portal allows users to provide their clients with a digital fact find to complete for new and existing clients. The data is updated immediately in Xplan and allows advisers to capture data more efficiently. However, even though all changes are logged in the audit trail, getting a clear picture of what is updated wasn't always easy.

What's new?

Upon completion of a fact find in Client Portal, a comparison report is generated and saved as a file note against the client. All data from the fact find is displayed and any changes are clearly highlighted.

How do I activate it?

No extra steps are required to configure or activate the comparison report, it is already live in Client Portal and available now.

Simply follow the existing fact find process by setting the fact find status to 'Unlocked' and when the client submits their fact find, a file note is created with the comparison report attached.

Got questions or feedback?

We always welcome feedback on our products and if you wish to let us know your thoughts, or if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to post them below.

Most clients say they’d refer you, but only 60% actually do. Without a steady stream of new clients, advice businesses risk relying on an ageing, shrinking revenue base.

How will you build a referral system that works without the awkward ask? This guide shows you how.

Click below to download.

Has anyone set up or created a form type document in Xplan notes. 

I have used Note Templates before and am aware I can use a table. Or a merge output however we don't want to re-tick options each time, just review and make any changes. 

We have a checklist that we want advisors to use in meetings.  This covers all advice areas and there are boxes to be ticked.  We are thinking that this could be saved and edited in notes.  I.e. saved last answers and then just updated again at a meeting.

Does anyone use something like this and can offer ideas for a solution

The answers being 

The Real Offshoring Problem: Process, Not People

Many principals blame disappointing offshore results on “quality control”, yet the real culprit is almost always the firm’s internal machinery. When workflows partially live in someone’s head and data standards vary by adviser, exported tasks return riddled with rework. Offshoring magnifies the system already in place: strong SOPs, digital checklists and automated task queues thrive; verbal instructions collapse. The cost is steep - duplicated labour, owner time sunk into fixes and EBIT margins trapped below 20 %. Practices that invest six months documenting processes, training an overseas team leader and embedding secure tech may lift margins to 30 %-plus within the second year.

Rather than abandon global talent, firms must treat the offshore partner as the execution arm of a clearly engineered assembly line. Once instructions are unambiguous and repeatable, offshore staff excel at time-critical admin such as data entry, product research and SoA implementation, freeing onshore advisers for strategy and client coaching.

Marry Ideal Clients with a World-Class Onboarding Machine

After you have filtered prospects, the true leverage appears during onboarding. A well-built procedure locks in client confidence, accelerates fee capture and frees adviser capacity. Offshoring slots perfectly here because the steps are data-heavy but rules-based. For example, document collection, fact-find validation and platform form preparation follow the same sequence every time. When these tasks move offshore, a local paraplanner can oversee multiple files concurrently instead of chasing signatures.

Your onboarding blueprint should incorporate the five qualification checkpoints that signal a client worth serving:

• A clear problem they want solved.
• Authority (and willingness) for both decision-makers to engage.
• A genuine sense of urgency.
• Estimated annual advice fees above your minimum threshold.
• Openness to your recommendations.

With those criteria met, hand the file to an offshore “implementation pod” that follows a digitised, automated playbook: e-sign engagement letter → trigger SharePoint workflow → schedule discovery meeting via Calendly → pre-populate fact-find and risk-profile forms → load data into your CRM. Each click is logged, timestamped and reported back to the adviser dashboard, giving local staff visibility without the drudgery.

The payoff is two-fold. First, capacity scales: one adviser supported by a disciplined offshore cell can service 150 + households at consistent service levels. Second, culture improves: local staff shift from firefighting to high-value conversations, and offshore colleagues enjoy clear KPIs and career pathways instead of ad-hoc requests.

Conclusion

Client demand is surging, and the firms that will capture profitable growth are those that (1) know exactly whom they want to serve, (2) codify every repeatable step, and (3) deploy offshore talent as the engine room of a seamless onboarding experience. The bottleneck is no longer lead flow; it is the owner’s resolve to replace tribal knowledge with procedure. Get that right and offshoring stops being a quality-control headache and becomes the accelerator that turns plentiful prospects into ideal, high-margin clients - efficiently, consistently and at scale.

Mark Lewin

May 2025

We still hear (to our collective horror) about users moving file notes between entities by copying and pasting. But there’s a much quicker way!

In the file note’s ‘Related’ tab, just click on the Add button to add other entities, and use the chain link button to link/unlink the note from any entity.

When you hear the word growth, what comes to mind?

For a lot of people, it’s numbers – bigger profits, more clients, more staff, more everything. But I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I reckon we need to look at growth a little differently, both in business and in life.

Growth in business – is more really better?

Yes, business growth matters. We need to stay commercial, be profitable and look after our people and clients. But growth isn’t just about how high those numbers go.

Here’s what I mean:

• Profit is important: it keeps the doors open and funds the future. But at what cost? Are bigger margins worth it if your team is stressed, your clients aren’t happy or you’re working yourself into the ground?
  
  
• More clients sound great, but only if:
• You can actually serve them well
• Your team isn’t burning out
• They’re the right clients — the ones who align with what you do and how you do it
  
  

• A smaller, engaged, capable team doing meaningful work
• Or a larger group, busy with tasks that don’t add value, just so you look “big” from the outside?

To me, it’s about finding that sweet spot:

• If you’ve got 20 ideal clients you love working with, that’s a win
• If you serve 10,000 households and do it well, that’s brilliant, too
• The right people, doing the right things, in the right way — now that’s successful

Growth as a person – it's the same

When it comes to personal growth, it’s really no different. It’s easy to get caught up chasing achievements and awards and ticking off endless to-do lists. But I think real growth comes from knowing what matters to you, and living in a way that reflects that.

• It’s not about doing more; sometimes it’s about doing less, but doing it better
• It’s about setting boundaries, saying no when you need to and making room for what’s important
• It’s about growing your skills, understanding yourself and backing yourself to make the right calls

So, what’s the wrap-up?

Growth, whether in business or life, isn’t just about the numbers. Yes, numbers matter. But meaning, people, balance and values matter more.

Growth should be:

• Sustainable
• Aligned with your values
• Focused on quality over quantity

Because when you get that right, you don’t just look successful from the outside – you feel it on the inside.

Over 80% of Advisely members are planning to grow their advice business in the next 5 years. But with 40% citing finding ideal clients a top challenge, the pressure is on to get smart and intentional about growth.

Catch up on our unmissable debate on the right way to grow and see all your questions answered by a panel of advisers who are kicking their growth goals today.

Become an Advisely member watch now!