Clients had their own say about the profession in a video series produced by The Yardstick Agency
Putting together our evidence locker from Top 100 client cases studies got us thinking; what would clients tell us about such great planning outcomes? Well, as luck would have it, someone had a bunch of testimonials on hand!
Nottingham-based IFA marketing firm The Yardstick Agency filmed a series of interviews with clients of the firms if has on its books. ‘We know that financial planning changes lives – who better to prove that than the clients who experience it?’ said Yardstick director Phil Bray (picture above). ‘The age of the anonymous testimonial is dead, so we’ve set about interviewing clients and asking them about the value they’ve gained from the financial planning process.’ We are providing some of the highlights from the transcript to give a sense of what makes a good adviser, from the perspective of a client.
William Robins and Ollie Smith
‘The biggest thing Sam gives me is an objective view. He’s very balanced, very calm.’
‘It’s pretty scary, but Sam comes in and gives me a bit of balance.’
‘I’m more organised… Sam’s given me the tools.’
‘One of the things Sam’s really big on is making sure that you’re not just planning for today or tomorrow, but for your retirement. He’s always got one eye on those things, which I don’t have.’
‘I’ve now taken early retirement. Never in my own imagination did I think I would retire at 59. I just couldn’t believe it. I said, “Did I hear him right?”. We could do it. That sudden realisation, that lightbulb moment – wow.’
‘The best thing about working with TFP is that partnership. They’ve made a dream of retiring early come to fruition for me.’
‘They’ve given us confidence in our financial position to do the things that we want to do.’
‘Our sons have benefited from us working with TFP as well. We gave them some money last year, whereas I think without TFP we would have thought, “Can we afford to do that?”. The confidence that TFP have given us, looking at our overall picture, has allowed us to do that and we feel very pleased.’
‘Working with TFP has enabled us to have the confidence to spend.’
‘There’s a very clear picture in my head about what I need to do, how I need to do it and why.’
‘In a very difficult period in our daughter and son-in-law’s life, Darren’s assistance has been invaluable in securing their family’s future through advising on a very timely critical illness insurance policy.’
‘Since working with Darren, our return on investment has been well in excess of what we would have achieved on our own. As a result, we’re much closer to achieving our pension pot goals than we thought. And that, in turn, has provided us with a much more relaxed attitude towards work and the confidence to spend on some long-wished-for home improvements.’
‘The initial output was a long-range, detailed financial plan, which we now update regularly, so that we know exactly where we stand. This plan gives one of us the confidence to only work part-time, in the knowledge that our finances will be sufficient to sustain our lifestyle. We’ve used the additional time to do lots of things, at an age when we can really enjoy being highly active.’
‘Darren’s regular visits give us the confidence to enjoy our lifestyle, knowing that our financial future is safe in his hands. Thank you, Darren!’
‘I’m so pleased that I found Darren, as he takes away a huge anxiety when my family’s financial future is at stake.’
