Fees can be a sensitive subject for financial planners.

That moment when you’re about to reveal your fee to a client can feel uncomfortable.

Not least because you’ve already invested considerable time, energy, and thought into their situation.

And you can never guarantee a ‘yes’.

The client has every right to question your fee or decline your proposal.

Yet what if the fee conversation is just one small part of a much bigger picture?

What if, by the time you reveal your fee, much of the decision has already been made?

Commoditisation invites comparison

If clients believe you’re providing products and services they could obtain from numerous other providers, why wouldn’t they compare prices?

I’ve just finished reading The Consolidation Wave by Philip Teale.

He explores the disruption AI is bringing to financial advice and suggests that 90% of advisers are vulnerable.

Imagine a client asking:

“If I use PensionBee to find and consolidate my five old pensions for free, what specific value will you add that justifies your additional fee?”

I suspect quite a few advisers would struggle to answer convincingly.

But that’s the adviser’s problem, not the clients.

Because you don’t have to be seen as a commodity.

You can deliberately design a client experience that’s distinctive, valuable, and difficult to replicate.

And the more distinctive your value, the harder it becomes to compare you on price.

What will people pay handsomely for?

People regularly spend considerable sums on things they really want.

Just look at what people will spend on holidays, cars, home improvements, and experiences.

They want something enough and find the money.

Yet reveal your financial planning fee and suddenly there’s resistance.

What does this tell you?

Perhaps the client doesn’t yet see sufficient value.

Because value isn’t simply a list of services, deliverables, or hours worked.

It’s what those services make possible in someone’s life.

Consider two conversations.

In the first, an adviser explains their investment process, cashflow modelling, tax planning, and annual reviews.

In the second, the adviser helps someone realise they could retire three years earlier, spend more time with their grandchildren, and stop worrying about running out of money.

Which conversation creates greater value?

Both might involve exactly the same technical work.

But the client’s experience is completely different.

So, consider:

Are you discovering what people most want and most want to avoid?

Are you helping them recognise possibilities they hadn’t considered?

Are they discovering the value for themselves, or are you trying to convince them?

The fee conversation starts long before you mention the fee

One mistake advisers make is treating the fee as a separate event.

Conduct the meeting. Explain the proposition. Reveal the fee. Hope for the best.

But what if the entire conversation helps the client experience the value of working with you?

When you help someone gain clarity, recognise possibilities, and see a compelling future, and stop worrying, something important happens.

You’re no longer simply describing financial planning.

You’re demonstrating what a valuable financial planning relationship can feel like.

Your relationship with fees matters

There’s another dimension that’s easily overlooked.

Your state of mind.

If you’re worried about whether the client will accept your fee, you might over-explain, justify yourself, become uncomfortable with silence, or offer a discount prematurely.

Your discomfort can create discomfort for them.

Now imagine being completely comfortable with your fee.

You understand your value, genuinely want the best for the client, and are perfectly willing to hear ‘no’.

There’s nothing to defend, prove, or force.

Paradoxically, being less attached to getting a ‘yes’ can make you far more effective.

Of course, fees matter. Sometimes a client genuinely can’t afford your service, or your proposition isn’t right for them.

But before assuming you need to reduce your fees, consider a different question.

What could you change about the experience you create so that your fee becomes a much smaller part of the decision?

Because the real opportunity isn’t to become better at justifying your fees.

It’s to become better at creating value that clients can genuinely experience.

It’s to become so good at creating meaningful value that the fee becomes a much smaller part of the decision.

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