Thanks to Debbie though, it will at least cost them a lot more than might otherwise have been the case. This epitomises the value to clients of them being able to have the deeper conversations they need when a personal crisis hits.
This is why advisers shall never be replaced by robots. We are not in the money business; we are in the people business.
We are not intrusive or over-familiar. We keep sufficient professional distance as enables us to maintain our objectivity and likewise enables clients to tell us directly if they are ever unhappy about anything we do, without them feeling embarrassed.
I always find it creepy when advisers try to insert themselves too deeply into their clients’ lives. At the same time though, we build the kind of relationships that make us their first call when, like Brian, they do not know where else to turn.
That’s when they do not just have an adviser, they have a friend.
Neil Liversidge is managing director of West Riding Personal Financial Solutions
