One of the things we’ve been slowly improving on doing as a business is saying no to people who might want to work with us.

Now I know what you might be thinking. Saying no to potential business opportunities is a fantastically foolish thing to do.

I’d disagree and suggest that it depends on who you say no to (and of course the reasons why). Here’s three of the reasons we’d say no to certain potential clients…

1) We say no if we believe our relationship with you will be transactional

Often a client will come to us with a desire to ‘do something’ and ask us to help them processing this particular action. However the reality is that we tend to avoid transactional work. We’ve worked and trained hard to be professionals. I believe the best professionals won’t just do something you want but understand more about what you’re looking to achieve, ask a bunch of questions, highlight things you’ve never thought of and be a trusted adviser. The best accountants, solicitors, hr managers and financial planners aren’t ‘order takers’. They act as professional partners and trusted consultants with their clients and aren’t afraid to challenge assumptions, highlight important points and suggest alternative courses of action when required.

That’s why when you consult with us we try to understand exactly what you’re looking to achieve and make bespoke recommendations accordingly. That’s why we work as professional partners with our clients. That’s why we’ll decline to work with clients who don’t want us to be partners but want us to perform a transaction.

So if you’re looking for a financial adviser to transact for you we’re probably not the right partner for you.

However if you’re looking for someone to work who will work with you for the long term (and for your long term benefit) it’s worth us having a chat.

2) We say no when you’re looking to only talk about ‘products’

As a business we believe that the ‘vehicles’ you use to accumulate and build wealth are only part of what we advise on. When building a financial plan for our clients we need to understand a lot more about our clients including their hopes, dreams, aspirations and goals. This allows the focus to be on you as an individual and what you’re looking to achieve with your money.

As you’d expect we’ve got the technical chops to advise on all the ‘products’ designed to help you achieve your financial goals. However the reality is that only focusing on whether you should use a pension, ISA or OEIC without understanding what you’re looking to achieve is like trying to complete a puzzle with half the pieces missing…and all of the important pieces.

Therefore if you’re looking for a financial adviser who simple advises you about your ‘products’ we’re not the firm you should work with. However if you’re interested in having a conversation about how you can best use the wealth you’ve accumulated to achieve your financial goals it’s worth us having a chat.

3) We’ll say No if we don’t think we’re going to be able to work together

We pride ourselves on being pretty nice people and we like to work with equally nice people. This means we choose to work with clients who want to enjoy the experience of working with a financial planner and understand that as your financial planner our obligation is to work for you. There has been on occasion when we’ve making the mistake of working with clients who wanted a relationship where the conversation was competitive as opposed to collaborative.

When I look back choosing to work with a client who wasn’t prepared to have a relationship of mutual respect was a massive mistake and as a business we try to learn from our mistakes.

This doesn’t mean we are not prepared to have challenging conversations. Our clients have every right to ask us challenging questions and we hope we do the same to ensure we’re in a position where more information allows us to build a better financial plan. However those challenging conversations have to be with an understanding that we’ve got the same ambitions…to ensure that you receive the best advice, support and guidance to empower you to achieve your financial goals

Therefore if you’re looking for a financial adviser to order around and argue with we’re not the partner for you. However if you want a collaborative partner and you want someone ‘on your side’ it’s worth us having a chat.

Hopefully by explaining a little bit about the sort of clients we don’t work with you may have come to the conclusion that we’re not the right advisory firm for you. However if you feel we might be able to work together feel free to contact us on 01708 606 202 or you can email us at cassiedaems@cervellofp.co.uk.