Kim Barrett (pictured above), Ian Head and James Relph explain how they deal with provider issues.
Kim Barrett
Managing director, Barretts Financial Solutions
We deal with few providers these days and have gradually become more platform-based. Contrary to the wishes of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) [which expects independent firms to use more than one platform], we mainly use Transact.
Any issue over servicing should stay between the adviser and the provider. At no stage should it ever prevent the client from a potential use of that provider’s services
Do not overreact
You often hear advisers bleating on about a terrible service they have experienced from a provider and saying they would never use that provider again.
I am all for getting in touch with the provider directly and throwing toys out of the pram if it has been incompetent. But making an arbitrary decision never to use a particular provider again is unfair to clients, as they might have a product that happens to be exactly what is needed.
If you rule out providers due to such trivial issues as administrative errors, you are restricting your capacity to offer the best possible outcome for clients, which is highly counterintuitive.
Protect clients
All providers are bad at times. If you ask me to detail every time a provider has been incompetent or unhelpful, I could probably write you a book, but it is part of our job to make the process easier for clients. My approach would always be to deal with the provider myself and never let those issues affect clients in any way.
Ian Head
Director, Fund Management
I have a lot of experience in this area. Often the problem is not that the provider has done something wrong, but that they have gone the wrong way about putting it right. Usually, this means nobody at the company taking ownership of the situation.
When this happens, I make an official complaint on behalf of myself and the client, which usually speeds up the process and someone eventually takes responsibility for putting things right.
Force their hand
I usually find that nobody wants to be held accountable, or you are passed onto a different person each time you contact the firm and have to explain the situation repeatedly. An official complaint compels someone to take ownership as you have launched a formal procedure.
If the initial complaint is not addressed or is taking too long, I send invoices for wasted time. Then they usually spring into action. Sometimes they even pay them without asking any questions.
Be persistent
I might threaten not only to bring no more business their way, but also move existing business away. I cannot deal with a provider that cannot be trusted to provide the right outcomes.
I do not expect perfection. As you are dealing with human beings, someone can always make a mistake. But the way they deal with a problem is the most important thing, and you have to be persistent and push to make sure they are doing right by the client.
James Relph
Managing director, Executive Wealth Management
We do not have a strict process but if it is a provider we have had issues with before, we may not use them again for that type of business.
Set deadlines
At the initial point of an issue arising, I would try to take people’s names, call back and give them clear deadlines by which I expect the problem to be resolved. If I am not getting anywhere, I would file an official complaint, again giving a fixed deadline. Once the FCA is involved, the provider will know it has to deal with the issue by a certain date.
Improve communication
Our biggest problem concerns sending out paperwork that is fairly standard. In my opinion, it could be easily accessible via a provider’s website, rather than taking five days, and that is very frustrating both for us and our clients.
So much of it comes down to communication. The individuals you are speaking to sometimes do not have external emails, so everything has to go through a centralised address and you end up with a different person picking it up every time.
If we have a point of contact on the sales side I would probably tell them to sort it out or I could no longer put any business their way.
I would not threaten that with the person dealing with the complaint as that does not affect anything. But I would have a separate conversation with the broker consultant to say that it needs sorting out or they risk losing business.
THREE TOP TIPS
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Kim Barrett: Keep any issues between yourself and the provider. Do not restrict your own service to make a point.
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Ian Head: Do not be afraid to take a hard line and charge for the time you have wasted.
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James Relph: Make sure you pin down a single point of contact.