{"id":80631,"date":"2026-01-12T10:15:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T23:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/?p=80631"},"modified":"2026-01-12T13:52:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T02:52:50","slug":"client-adviser-relationship-rated-advisers-top-attribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/2026\/01\/12\/client-adviser-relationship-rated-advisers-top-attribute\/","title":{"rendered":"Client-Adviser Relationship Rated Advisers’ Top Attribute"},"content":{"rendered":"

The business relationship between client and adviser is the top attribute of Australian advisers according to a client satisfaction survey carried out by Business Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Clients truly appreciate and value their adviser,” says Terry Bell<\/strong>, one of the firm’s Principals .<\/p>\n

“This continues to be the highest scoring KPIs as rated by clients through our CATScan client satisfaction survey. It manifests with clients staying longer, referring more business and generally making practices a happier, more settled and positive place.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
Terry Bell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Key takeouts of the firm’s survey include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Never take client\u2019s trust for granted<\/li>\n
  • Seek regular feedback<\/li>\n
  • Communicate frequently, meaningfully, proactively, and personalised<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Citing US business coach Chris Holman<\/strong>, Bell says that in a digital world the human voice remains a powerful and often overlooked tool for building connection and trust.<\/p>\n

    we\u2019ve been surprised by the lack of proactive communication from advice firms…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    “On this particular note, we\u2019ve been surprised by the lack of proactive communication from advice firms updating their clients as to the Shield and First Guardian situation, and its impact or not on their own financial plans,” says Bell.<\/p>\n

    Recruitment<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Bell says the battle to attract and retain good staff continues saying salaries remain the biggest expense for advice practices, comprising on average almost half (45%) of practice revenue.<\/p>\n

    “We can see that demand for new talent, particularly experienced advisers, client service managers and support staff, has continued to drive up pay packages for these roles by 23%, 20% and 17% respectively,” he says.<\/p>\n

    “Average bonus payments across all roles have also increased, while there is also a drive back to the office.<\/p>\n

    …just 24% of practices have a fully documented plan for their succession…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    “We regularly reminded our clients throughout the year that this outlay is best viewed as an investment.”<\/p>\n

    Business continuity<\/strong><\/p>\n

    In regard to succession planning Bell says just 24% of practices have a fully documented plan for their succession\/transition, while just 5% have effectively structured their plan through successor identification, funding, and valuation.<\/p>\n

    “If you haven\u2019t already done so, identify and start talking to potential partners or inheritors of your business,” he says. “Even if you\u2019re not thinking of exiting in the near future.<\/p>\n

    “There is always the unknown factor and, by simply going through such a process, you will identify areas which can be improved today.<\/p>\n

    “Ensure your clients and staff will continue to be looked after and your legacy preserved. Alignment and compatibility should define these discussions. “This is perhaps an even more pressing issue for sole owner practices.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The business relationship between client and adviser is the top attribute of Australian advisers according to a client satisfaction survey carried out by Business Health. “Clients truly appreciate and value their adviser,” says Terry Bell, one of the firm’s Principals . “This continues to be the highest scoring KPIs as rated by clients through our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":80632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,4474,270],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-company-news","category-practice-management","category-remuneration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}