One of the things I enjoy most about my role is meeting company leaders. What I have learnt is that being clear on your purpose is fundamental to success.
I have had several interactions lately with large firms whose senior management have very strong visions for their businesses; visions that are clear about how everyone in the value chain wins, from the customer to the adviser to the firm and the asset manager.
I recently met a chief executive who had spent weeks with his board and chairman refining their purpose before tackling the nuts and bolts of the business.
I also chatted to an industry colleague about a new venture he is launching and felt certain he would be successful because he is so clear on the value he brings to the customer and how to align advisers to that purpose in a small firm.
Compare that with the confused pre-Retail Distribution Review business models of a decade or so ago, when it was not clear who was supposed to be adding what value where, or how the needs of the customer would be met or how the value chain should be aligned.
Go back far enough and it was a pure fight for the customer, with pension providers and insurers using commission plans to ‘acquire’ customers – and the customer having no voice in the matter at all.
Even today, you may have been unlucky enough to encounter businesses where the leadership does not understand either their customers or their advisers, with no central vision to buy into.
What does vision look like?
So, what do I mean by purpose? A long-term vision for your business that is clear on your proposition, what value it adds – to advisers and to your target customers – and how it differs from the alternatives.
Tackling this big-picture thinking now is timely because it is so closely aligned with consumer duty and its emphasis on knowing your customers and how you meet their needs, rather than trying to serve everyone.
Importantly, a great vision and purpose will be designed to ‘repel’ as much as ‘attract’ because they do not seek to be all things to everyone.
When advice firms define and refine their vision, it sometimes causes advisers to leave if their own purpose is not aligned. But it also helps firms to attract and retain the right people – and to attract customers who are clear on what they are getting and therefore more likely to be satisfied.
Once your purpose is defined, it is about communicating it throughout the company and to stakeholders up and down the company – from shareholders to the team – to embed it in the firm’s DNA.
In my own business, we work continuously to ensure everyone in every team can articulate our purpose and understand their role in achieving it.
