At Proposito Financial Planning we’ve been “doing fees” for a long time. In fact ever since May 2005 that’s the only way we have done any work for anyone. So we think we’re more experienced than most when it comes to getting the fee right.

That’s why before we take on a new client we’ll whizz them round in the Proposito VORTEX. This helps us to determine an appropriate project fee for our financial planning service.

Value to you of us completing the work for you.
Organisation of your financial affairs and lifestyle.
Risk and return to the firm for completing the work for you.
Time it will take us (from start to finish) to complete the work for you.
Expertise required to complete the work for you.
X factor – The unknown measure of how easy it’s going to be for us to deal with you.

Of the six factors that control our initial fees for new clients you can exert the most influence on the X factor!  Here’s my five top tips to minimise the impact of the X factor on your fees:

1. Complete all forms fully
   Time spent competing paperwork and collecting information is not good use of our resources or expertise. Neither is chasing up missing or incomplete information.
2. Be responsive
   Respond to requests for additional information and clarification promptly so as not to delay things unduly.
3. Return paperwork
   There is a requirement in financial services for wet signatures on pieces of paper. Read all correspondence and return documents (completed and signed in the correct places) by return.
4. Be organised
   Have your papers and documents in order. Make sure you know what you’ve got and what it’s doing. If you have any questions write them all down and ask them all in one go when you get a chance. It’s much more efficient for us to deal with people who know what they’ve got and what it’s for.
5. Be engaged
   Financial planning is (up to a point) a collaborative project. It shouldn’t be the planner imposing their view of what your financial future should look like. Instead they should help you to articulate what you would like your financial future to look like by asking the right questions. Then they’ll use their technical expertise to develop solutions. If you’re not going to be available to engage, take calls, return calls, make meetings, devote time to thinking about your future then the planner’s job – to help you plan for YOUR future – becomes much, much more difficult. Running up a treacle covered hill in concrete boots pushing a very big rock springs to mind.

We work with plenty of people who fail all five – some quite spectacularly and that’s fine by them and by us. They understand that the value we bring to their financial lives by sorting all that stuff out for them is far, far greater than the additional cost we charge.

Now you might be wondering when we start assessing the X factor for new clients. It’s usually known before we’ve even met them. I’ll telephone for a brief initial chat (to introduce myself and Proposito). I’ll send out an initial Financial Planning Questionnaire (either an electronic or paper version).  It’ll be chased by email or telephone. We would prefer it filled in before the meeting but it’s not mandatory.

All these things will paint a picture of how easy it’s going to be to work with the client and because we see every client every year we need the X factor results.