BT advisers to get expert relationship advice

BT Wrap is bringing US financial services expert Bill Bachrach to Australia for a series of road shows aimed at helping BT advisers build their client base by improving client relationships.

The head of BT Wrap, Chris Freeman, said he witnessed one of Bachrach’s presentations in December and was amazed at how practical and insightful the message was.

“In particular, coming out of the [global financial crisis] where there’s been a lot of nervousness, a lot of people may have lost the motivation to build their businesses, so it may be a good time to get an expert like Bill in front of them and talking about the wonderful opportunities that do exist to help them build their businesses,” Freeman said.

One of Bachrach’s key messages is the importance of building trust in adviser/client relationships, a message made more relevant by the current shift in Australia away from commission-based payments towards fee for service — a move Bachrach said would be incredibly difficult to implement in the US. It also represents the “ultimate high trust relationship, where the client is happy to pay for advice without having [the payment] buried in products”.

“At the presentations we’ll talk about what I call ‘speaking the language of trust’," Bachrach said. “Our value proposition to financial advisers is we help them build their ideal life in four years or less by building what we call an ideal client community by referral.”

It is also important to understand that there is no such thing as a "silver bullet solution" where a single two to three hour session can solve all of life’s problems. Instead, advisers will walk away with immediately implementable ideas and tactics that will have a positive impact on their client relationships and on their production and how well they can serve their clients, he said.

“The key points in the presentation that I’ll make is we want to help the financial planner to have a compelling vision of their future; a business that operates to high standards, a business that delivers on a better value proposition and also [helps] clients to have a clear and compelling vision of their future so they can align their financial choices with that vision of their future,” Bachrach said.