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BLOG: Confessions of an orphan (client)

Lawrence Gosling
Written By:
Lawrence Gosling
Posted:
Updated:
10/12/2014

I am now officially an orphan – an orphan client. My adviser rang me a few weeks ago and said he’d had enough.

Not of me, I hasten to add, but of the industry. He is also at a stage in life where he wants to enjoy life while he is still young enough to do so.

I can understand that. He is not rich, but comfortable, and the thought of spending another five to ten years on planes, trains and automobiles to get to see clients is enough to put anyone off. There is only so much overpriced Network South East poor quality coffee you can consume in life.

As he said to me, in an echo of what I hear from most other advisers, seeing clients is the good thing about the job. It is the other 75% of the time that is not much fun.

The move to fees is not a problem for him or his firm, as they have always operated on a customer-agreed format. As a customer, I have never found that a particularly difficult issue to get my head around.

I do not object to paying fees, because it has always been clear what the actual cost will be, so I have been able to make a rational decision whether it is fees or commission I am forking out for.

The only thing I object to with fees is the 20% VAT – effectively I am paying a fifth of the total cost to the Chancellor of the Exchequer – and he is not providing me with a service, unlike my adviser.

So, temporarily, I am an orphan client. Temporarily because the adviser’s firm will no doubt put me in touch with another adviser.

It is a month since my adviser rang me to say he was retiring, and to date I have had no urgent matters that I need advice on. But customer service in what is actually a serviced-based industry has not been great.

Has my advisory firm been taking lessons from the High Street banks on the impersonal service front?

A year ago my contact at my bank was moved. I only found out because I got a letter through the post from a bloke who said he was taking over my affairs. In the classic ‘bank’ way, it then had someone ring me to ask if I received good service from the new bloke – who I had never even met at this point. When I eventually did meet him, it turned out his office is right next to the old bloke’s, who had been promoted and not fired.

After a few tense initial meetings, I now get on very well with the new bank chap. I do not even mind when he tries to flog me life assurance. And no doubt I will get on well with my new adviser, but I do not like change so I am not really looking forward to the experience of getting to know each other.

I now understand how many customers might be feeling. It is all about the customer experience. I do not want to feel like just another marketing email.

And to my old adviser: thanks for everything you did for me and my family. Now it is time to enjoy yourself.

Lawrence Gosling is editorial director of Incisive Media and founding editor of Investment Week. His views are his own, any comments to him at lawrencegosling1@gmail.com