Planners failing to seek client feedback
Eight-five per cent of financial planning practices do not formally ask their clients for feedback, according to Business Health director Terry Bell.
The majority of planning practices fail to survey their clients for a number of reasons, Bell said.
Firstly, some advisers reckon they know what their clients think already, he said.
"The other one is 'Now's not the right time'. Given the global financial crisis and the [Future of Financial Advice reforms] they say: 'It's not right, I'm too busy'," he said.
There are other advisers who simply don't want to know what their clients think of them, said Bell.
"I think it's fair to say that only the better practices will go to the bother of doing it," he added.
The statistic was highlighted in a recent Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) white paper, which utilised the Business Health research.
"It almost defies belief that just 15 per cent of Australian practices have a structured approach to seeking client feedback," according to the white paper.
The failure of advisers in this area is even more surprising given the link between seeking client feedback and increased profits, said the AFA.
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