Face-to-face - from the top down

The way licensees serve and support planners in regional Australia bears many similarities to the way planners assist their own clients in the regions. 

Related: City-slick with a rural tick

The size and spread of a planner network is often a good drawcard for the clients of a financial planner and a good marketing angle for their licensee, but it also means ensuring far-flung planners are not left out of the loop. 

In the internet age this seems to be a shrinking problem, but licensees are still expending serious time and effort to ensure their planners are able to provide advice at a consistent level – whether in the city or the country. 

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Garvan and MLC Financial Planning general manager James Meade said that financial planning in regional Australia is very much the same as it is in the metropolitan centres, but with distinct nuances. 

“The business of regional financial planners is still advice delivery to their clients – but there are challenges around finding and keeping staff, ongoing training for those staff and the advisers and long-term business issues such as succession planning,” Meade says. 

These are not bad problems to have, according to State Super Financial Services chief executive Michael Monaghan, who is overseeing the expansion of the group’s planner numbers into Western Australia. 

“The big issue is having sufficient coverage to meet clients’ needs for advice, and to deal with that requires having planners in regional centres because face-to-face advice is important for the provision of advice within a local community,” Monaghan said. 

Monaghan recognises that technology can meet many client servicing needs but believes it should be seen as an enabler, not the initiator. 

“Technology does the same thing and serves the same purpose in the city as it does in the country. It allows us to serve clients in a way that suits them and the planner – such as self-service, or online interaction, or with the client in the office reviewing their file electronically,” he said. 

He said it has allowed planners to re-engineer their businesses, but regional planners are sometimes held back by telecommunications systems that have not kept pace with the technology demands of planners or clients. 

Meade said it was for this reason that Garvan uses technology for “hygiene” items only and still relies on face-to-face dealings to build planner practices. 

“We have made it possible for all our planners, including those in regional locations, to access dealer group services online.

"As such, they can get continuing professional development (CPD) tools, research and product and compliance information online, and we try to make it as economical as possible to access,” Meade said. 

“This has allowed us to build out practices in these simple business process areas, but when it comes to business management issues and succession planning – we still do that face to face.” 

This means Garvan practice development managers (PDM) hit the road on a regular basis and develop personal relationships with planners while focussing on high value activities within their practices, according to Meade. 

“Our PDMs do not go to planners to have a chat about the basics but about practice management and business development issues. 

“The aim is to talk with planners at a business-owner level – and above just a financial planning level. As a result they often spend up to a day in each practice working through its plans and goals,” Meade said. 

One common concern for all those dealing with the provision of advice in regional Australia is finding, training and keeping staff. Monaghan said regional financial planning is a perfect place for those interested in financial services – but the supply of such staff is usually less than planner demand. 

Meade said planners need to present their value proposition as an employer to potential staff in much the same way as they present their value proposition as a planner to clients. 

“We ask our regional practices to consider what would attract and keep staff in the practice or business, and what are the future opportunities open to staff? We know the competition for good staff is tough and there is often a smaller pool to draw from,” Meade said. 

This issue raises questions for the planners and requires them to also think about their own work and succession plans, which Meade said is another area where face-to-face contact with the licensee is important. 

“We have a team of three people working with practices across our licence, and we find that planners who implement a succession plan can attract and retain staff and don’t see that as a major issue – because they can clearly define the future path of the practice and its employees,” Meade said. 

“This is one of the common success factors we see in regional financial planning practices, alongside innovation and a willingness to serve a diverse and widespread client base.” 

Meade said regional planners will often be involved in the business, succession and estate planning needs of their clients while leveraging their community ties, referral arrangements with other local professionals and technology systems to provide advice across this range of needs. 

“Planners in regional Australia are very efficient because of the scope of the work they are called on to do and they have found ways to service clients that make the most of the tools to hand. 

“In this regard the gap between the capability and functions of city and regional planners has been closed by technology and good business practices.” 

Monaghan believes the position of regional financial planners can only improve from here onwards, a position he hopes to promote as State Super aims to move from its toe-hold position in Perth towards a greater presence in Western Australia. 

“Regional financial planning has a good lifestyle for those who want it and offers an occupation and a career in a growing and professional industry – without the city crush.”