When will the banking market return?

With today's(29th April 2009) recent surge in first quarter profits posted by Santander and the Abbey Bank in particular, are we starting to see the first green shoots of recovery in the banking environment and therefore the financial services recruitment industry? I am no economist and can only give a recruiters view on the situation but recent events do seem to indicate that we are perhaps starting to see a small increase in profits generated by financial services organisations, which should theoretically bring with it an increase in the amount of recruitment undertaken by the banking industry.

The stock market experienced a small rise on the back of the banking markets better than forecasted pre tax profits and this indicates a small but significant recovery. Of course, with the UK economy still in the mire of a supposedly full scale depression it could be a long time yet before we start seeing any upturn in the financial services recruitment market but it does however bode well for the latter part of 2009, despite the government telling us that 900,000 people will lose their jobs this year.

The recent increases in first quarter profits aren't quite across the board as yet and the mortgage market in general is still depressed but increased profits must mean increased consumer confidence and a slight easing on the restrictions in lending policy, which in turn will bring a need for an increase in financial advisory and mortgage advisory staff. Is quantitative easing beginning to take effect? Who knows, but after a year of headcounts and financial advisory positions being severely restricted any amount of recovery, however small, would be most welcome.

Working in the UK financial services recruitment industry, reliance on the 'big four' high street banks for financial services roles and the resulting lack of opportunity has brought about a heavy downturn in profitability. This has been offset by increased business development and marketing in order to generate alternative business from IFA organisations, Accountancy practices and assurance providers which has to a degree worked. However, the staple of most financial services recruiters is the banking environment and the financial advisory opportunities they bring, the holy grail of the PSL still being the aim, however,what good being on a PSL does if the jobs just aren't there, I don't know?

Speaking from experience, we have seen a small increase in jobs from the financial adviser or wealth management arms of the High Street banks very recently, resembling a small chink of light in the economic gloom. Hopefully it will increase and continue into the latter part of the year. And, if it manages to get back to resembling anything like it did last year in terms of the number of opportunities, both I and XL Recruitment will be happy bunnies!

Marketing 101

Marketing - Not really a part of the business that many paid attention to up until last year. For much of that time new accounts were a nice addition to the accounts already held and not, as this year, a vital necessity. Much of the marketing we at XL Recruitment did last year was via word of mouth and it wasn't really deemed a priority- perhaps not the best plan for business growth - but then, we are already providing financial advisory staff to the majority of the blue chip companies in the UK, along with a multitude of the national IFA and assurance organisations up and down the country.

Things have changed. The contracting economy and diminished returns from existing business have made it absolutely essential that we market ourselves to new potential clients- getting ourselves and the XL brand exposure to new contacts on a weekly, if not daily basis. It will be the same for any financial professional whatever discipline - whether an IFA, financial adviser or mortgage adviser. The principle won't change - it will still involve you marketing yourself to a new audience with a view to acquiring new business.

As a recruiter working in the financial services industry we are only now starting to take a look at the myriad ways to market ourselves - something we should have been prepared for and up to date with a while ago, certainly it would have helped. With the Internet well established, nowadays there are so many different tools to create exposure for you and your brand and its important to know what works for you and what your potential clients will use in order for you to create a proper targeted media campaign.

Marketing is of little use if its done in an unfocused and scatter gun manner. Its not enough to just create a business profile on Facebook and send out a thousand email newsletters. Its vitally important to put a disciplined plan in place. Think about where your clients come from, what websites and media they will use. You need to focus on those areas.

Its also really important that you can measure what you are doing - its no good throwing money around on marketing that doesn't work. Again, choose what will work and spend time, money and energy on that. If seminars worked before - use them again, if you had success cold calling - get back on the phone - just make sure its to the market that you need to be targeting, not a random section of the population.

The most important things to do are to:

1. Determine what resources you can use in terms of time, energy, money and people and that will give you an idea of what can be done.


2. Determine who and what constitutes your target market? You have to find out who your audience are before you can think of what to deliver to them.


3. Think about what your strengths are - its no good getting up in a seminar and delivering a pitch if you're not very good at it or not confident with it. Choose what you are good at and focus on that - the more confidence you have in what you are doing - the more likely it is you will get better results.


4. Always be prepared to use something that you haven't before. Don't discount something just because you haven't used it - it could be a hugely effective marketing tool- Always look at things with an open mind.

Its more important than ever that we use marketing to get the best results we can and no business plan, whether personal or part of a bigger picture, will succeed if it doesn't involve at least a modicum of marketing nowadays, especially in the financial services industry.

What is a Financial adviser

Financial Services Part 1 - I suppose one of the things I should have done is at least explained what a financial adviser actually is or does. From a recruiters perspective its probably a good idea to 'know your quarry' and if you're looking to come into the financial services industry as a financial adviser then this will give you a good idea as to what to expect. There are a few very good websites that you can look at to get an idea as to what a financial adviser actually does such as the IFA guide website or the Prospects University graduate website, however, here we will give you a brief outline of what you can realistically expect from a financial adviser, whether looking for a job opportunity or a potential candidate for a role.

The title 'Financial adviser' basically explains itself, it does what it says on the tin - a financial adviser will literally advise someone on financial matters, making recommendations on ways to use their money - thats if, given the credit crunch you still have any! Enough joking - the role involves explaining the mulititude of products and services that are available to clients and helping them choose the ones that best meet their needs.

There are different types of advisers varying from corporate advisers that deal with commercial entities - providing say employee benefits advice, High Net Worth specialists that deal exclusively with affluent clients through to general practitioners who offer advice in all areas, pensions, savings, investments, mortgages, etc

There are thousands of advisers across the UK and they are either 'tied', multi -tied or 'whole of market'. The differences are explained below:

• Tied - Can only offer advice on products from one provider - usually one they work for, usually a bank, building society or assurance society


• Multi tied - Can offer advice on products from a panel of different providers - ususally employed in similar settings to the above but with more scope.


• Whole of market - Truely 'Independent'. These advisers can work for a company or be self employed but they can offer advice on the full range of products available from the 'whole of the market' and by law must offer the most approriate advice.

Make no mistake about it, the financial advisory role is a sales job and with sales comes targets and bonus payments for success. However, its not just about making sales at all costs. The products offered are regulated, so there is a strong emphasis on carrying out the right procedures and there are compliance processes in place in order to be able to show that the client has received the best advice. The decisions you help the client make are important decisions for their finances and future, so protecting them and making sure they get the right advice is essential. Having said that, most advisers earn their salaries from commissions on whatever sales they make, although a number do offer clients the option to pay fees for advice. IFAs are obliged to offer their clients this choice. We are tending to see more and more organisations going over to this method of payment now as it inspires consumer confidence and the closer to the RDR review we get in 2012, the more we will see this business model.

When you start out as a financial adviser it is more than likely that it will be in a Bank, building society or assurance society and more than likely as a tied adviser. This will give you good basic training in a range of financial products. Most employers usually provide this in-house. New advisers will usually start by undertaking some of the research and admin and then, gradually begin to deal directly with clients, under supervision. As new financial advisers become more experienced, they acquire their own client portfolio.

If you have succesfully been a financial adviser for a period of time you may want to progress your career. Most will move into multi tied or 'whole of market roles, dealing with higher value clients perhaps or maybe specialise in dealing with one type of advice - pensions specialist or mortgages - or one type of client - commercial or long term care clients, say. You may even want to go self employed which is another option.

Salaries for financial advisers can be varied. As a 'tied' bank adviser you could realistically expect a base salary between £18,000 and £28,000 per annum initially, rising to say £40,000 for an experienced financial adviser with OTE of £60,000. Self employed IFA's can earn anything from £25,000 up to £100,000 per annum. Its a great opportunity whether looking for your 1st or 2nd career.

A Change of Plan Perhaps

When I started this blog - not so very long ago I might add- I had a vision of an information portal for financial services professionals whether a financial adviser, IFA, financial services recruiter, anyone basically working in and around the financial services and financial advisory industries in particular, somewhere financial services professionals could find relevant information to do with their industry. That hasn't changed because although there are a number of information sites for the industry, as a resource I have yet to see many websites or blogs covering the financial services industry from a number of perspectives.

The initial format idea has changed slightly in that yes, it was going to be about hints and tips on sales, marketing, advising itself but in particular the headhunting of suitable financial advisory candidates for many of the jobs I work on - if I'm honest I thought it would be a good way to get in contact with more financial services professionals. The thing is, I quickly realised that it was going to take a very long time to get the number of followers required to make it a viable source of industry professionals. Since then, I've made a conscious decision to change the format of the blog and make it more into a look at the industry from a recruiters perspective and still contain the things I wanted it to initially - so more of a resource for professionals - whether new to the industry or old hands - than a resource for candidates. Of course theres also the novelty value of something personally written - sometimes it will be serious and factual - sometimes it will be blase and amusing -It will however still have its roots in the financial services industry and that's, I suppose, what I wanted.

Goal Setting - small targets for big results!

For a new financial adviser starting out in the financial services industry it’s probably a bit unrealistic to set yourself grand targets that are most likely doomed to failure, certainly without the relevant experience. It is still however, a very good idea to set realistic goals and targets in the form of a business plan as when results are achieved as written down it drives you on further to do even better. A great man once said to me ‘always write down your goals, visualize them every morning, put the hard graft in and eventually those dream and goals will be realized’ 

So how should a new financial adviser with little experience go about setting their goals? It doesn’t really matter to be honest. I think the important thing is that you write them down. Seeing them in black and white makes them real. Your goals and targets should also be realistic and answer your purpose whatever that might be – increased income, better holidays, better work life balance, etc. I’m sure that most of you started off this career for a reason. For some, it’s to pursue an interest, some to earn financial freedom, others to challenge themselves. 

I would advise keeping it simple in the beginning and writing achievable goals that are realistic and can be achieved in say 2 to 3 years. If you can’t see any result in the short term it will make you disillusioned and more likely to fail. A good example would be something like the one below:

‘When I started this job it was to earn financial freedom within 10 years but in the short term I would like to at least match what I was earning in my previous role and be earning 100,000 GBP in the next three to four years’

Short and to the point but matched with realism. This is a good example of goal setting.

Now another thing to think about as a finncial adviser is how you are going to achieve those income goals. How much you will earn I determined by how much activity you do and how you do it. You can only manage what you can control, forget what you can’t influence. You can control how many calls you make, how many appointments you make and how many clients you see. The better you get as a financial adviser the easier it will be to make these controllable aspects profitable.

It is vitally important that the small activity goals you set are being achieved. Planning your time effectively to include exclusive times for cold calling and appointment setting is important. At the moment you should jut focus on seeing the number of new appointments you set per week and making the right number of calls to new prospects. Achieve those targets and your income targets will surely be met.

In conclusion it’s important to keep things simple and focus on getting the things you can control right. Don’t waste time setting unrealistic goal that you won’t achieve making you disillusioned and less likely to have a successful career as a financial adviser.

New Clients are the new black

Recruitment for Dummies - Part 2 - Developing new clients

If you are a consultant working in the financial services industry you will be finding your role has changed over the last year to include a much higher percentage of new business development than it did. I would go as far as to suggest that perhaps an increase of 25% wouldn't be too much. In today's financial services market there are a whole host of financial advisers displaced from their roles, a lot from the major high street banks, who aren't recruiting as much, and from the larger National IFA firms. Candidate generation isn't really the issue - finding roles to put them in however, well that's a different story.

In your organisation, do you have specific individuals responsible for new business development and subsequent account management or do you, like us at XL-Recruitment make everybody responsible for developing new accounts? Both business models work and both can be very effective, like most jobs, its about having the right people. It takes a lot to successfully develop and manage a new account, from initial contact, right through to successful placement of financial services candidates.

Firstly it takes the development of some sort of rapport. Its ok having a strictly professional relationship but people will be much more willing to help you with any queries if you've taken an interest in them previously. It also helps in getting past the 'gatekeeper' if by the 5th time you've called you know they're married and support Everton football club! See how many times you get through to the decision maker then?

Secondly - finding out exactly what the client is doing currently to source their financial advisers or IFA's, if they are getting good results? what they are unhappy with? whether or not whatever they are doing is cost effective? Gently probing to determine what it will take to differentiate your company from your competitor - and then offering to supply that, can make all the difference in securing the business

You may not get the business immediately and I would suggest that with the financial services industry and the economy in turmoil at the moment, it probably will take more than one call. Persevere though and if you can't get on the PSL immediately look to at least secure a trial when they are next looking for new financial services professionals. How are they going to know what you can do without giving you a go?

Finally, when you do get the new business and you've been tasked to find a new IFA or a financial adviser, para planner, whatever, make sure that you keep in contact and develop the relationship. Keep them in the loop, provide good feedback and make sure that you provide a professional and most of all cost and time effective service.

New business generation and finding new roles is a much more important part of the successful financial services recruitment consultants armoury nowadays and is a part that shouldn't be neglected. Its also a hell of a lot easier to talk to candidates if you have a role that is different from the jobs that have been put to them by five consultants before you!

Financial 'advice' or just another sale?

With the RDR looming in 2012 the onus is now on IFA's and financial advisers to mantain their qualifications at a higher level than previously. Simple FPC3 or CEFA qualifications just won't cut it any more and Diploma or Chartered status will now be almost a prerequsite. This is a smart move by the FSA partly designed to clean up the financial services industry and bring a regocgnised standard to the financial services industry. Advisory organisations will have to decide whether they want to go down the route of qualifiying their advisory sales force in order to make them truely 'independent' or stay as they are and be labelled as a 'sales' force.

Financial adviser or Sales man? What is the essential difference between a financial 'adviser' and a sales person. As a recruitment consultant working in the financial services recruitment industry I see a hell of a lot of different roles that all encompass the same specifications - the sale of financial products - whether on a self employed basis working through various providers (usually the ones with the best commissions) or as an employed adviser selling the products of your employer. Most roles will all involve some sort of up selling.

So how do you differentiate from an adviser providing true 'advice' or one selling you the product that best fits their needs or acheives their target. My advice - no pun intended, would be to construct a checklist of questions that you can use to validate whether or not the adviser is offering you advice in your best interests. Of course, before you interview financial advisers or IFA's to find out what they can offer, you need to ask yourself some questions first to determine exactly what you need. Is it a full financial overhaul or a lifelong financial plan with long term goals, is it just a mortgage or protection policy. The answers you give will help you determine who's services you will require. The questions to ask should resemble something along the lines of the below:

• What experience do you have? - find out how long they have been practicing, which companies they have worked for previously - it will give you an idea as to whether they will have the right experience.
  
• What are your qualifications? - will help you determine whether or not they have the right qualifications to be able to assist you
  
• What services do you provide? - Some may be able to offer pension tranfers, some may not, some may offer mortgages but can't do investment business - there are a few variations and the question is a valid one to determine if they can help you.
• How do I pay for your services? - A vital question to ask - since the RDR was announced more and more advisers are offering fee based services alone, rather than commission based - the advice offered is more likly to be impartial and true financial 'advice' as there is no benefit to the financial adviser pushing products from one provider (usually with the biggest commission rates!)

A simple list of just a few questions, but they will help the client to decide if the financial adviser is more of a 'salesman' then a true financial planner. In some cases, the advice and financial products offered by a financial adviser will be absolutely spot on, whether with the provider paying the best commission or not, so don't discount out of hand the financial advisers that will take the 'salesman' route after the RDR but if you are looking for truely impartial. independent financial advice then I would suggest a reputable IFA.

Lead Generation

Whether you work as a financial or mortgage adviser or even, god forsake us, as a recruitment consultant in the UK financial services market, chances are you will have been approached by a  lead generator.  Usually its a company located in India or in some cases in the UK but it almost always consists of banks of cold callers who will pre qualify a lead, usually with a scripted questionnaire of inappropriate questions.  Most will take your money and run whilst supplying you with ridiculously poor leads that have once upon a time, maybe last year, asked about a mortgage or a bond or if a recruitment consultancy, a job.

A year or perhaps two year ago, how many business's needed to employ the services of a lead generator?  Most were basking in the warm glow of a booming economy and leads were coming from traditional means, referral and recommendation, networking, cold calling yourself even.  As business dried up so did the leads and now most firms, whichever segment of the financial services market they work in are finding that lead generators are a viable and most times valuable resource.

I think its very much dependant on the initial outlay.  Well qualified leads from outsourced generating companies can be expensive and the ratio for success is something like 2 or 3 out of every ten.  So, imagine if each lead costs 50 GBP, to get a good return you will need to buy a large amount and that means a significant outlay.  And how many companies these days have that money to spare?

I would suggest that even if its difficult to find, it could be money well spent.  With most organisations finding it hard to see where the next business is coming from, a source of well qualified leads from a well managed and reputable company are a lifeline not to be scoffed at. It does however require finding a good company to use.  Find out what your colleagues or your peers are using, get a recommendation and don't be afraid to contact these companies and ask to speak to companies that have or are using them.  If they are any good they will supply you with names.

In any case lead generators are here to stay and until the economy starts to resemble, once again, the boom times of two years ago they are a viable source of income.

Is now a good time to be an IFA?

With the UK financial services market experiencing so much doom and gloom and with the redtops and the broadsheets conspiring to make it sound considerably worse than it actually is, its vitally important for the Independent financial adviser to try and ensure that they are the choice of the consumer rather than the 'big four' or the other high street banks and building soceities.
 
Given the behaviour of the banks over the last year or so, completely reckless and without consideration for recourse, mismanagement on a grand scale and complete ignorance of the consumer now should be the time that IFA's are marketing themselves as heavily as they ever did to ensure a fair market share of the displaced business.  I don't think that the brand that the banks have spent years nurturing is going to be strong enough to retain the consumer confidence that they have held for so long in its entirety and this means more business for the UK Independent financial adviser

The IFA is 'Independent', not tied or multi-tied, nor do they fit into any of the new breed of groups of sales or 'generic' advice.  Their actions are based on the need of the client and not on the requirement to achieve a target or the need of a banking or assurance institution.  There is no sales target, most are self employed,  they have no product targets, they're not required to sell a particular quota of say, life assurance or bonds.

Another good thing to the IFA is that most of their business comes via word of mouth with a good recommendation.  There is no reliance on counter  staff almost kidnapping customers as they walk in branch and harrying them until they agree to see what can loosely be termed an 'adviser' and in truth probably comes closer to a sales person.

Also, they aren't multi-tied,  which means that they don't have to try and sell one type of protection product from a limited panel of providers which conveniently happens to be more expensive for the client to purchase, simply because the commission is loaded.  This practice is called dual pricing and is demeaning: there's the real price (which they would rather have teeth pulled than show the client) and there's the one specially arranged between the 'multi tied' adviser and the insurance company.

Independent Financial advisers pride themselves on always being able to offer the best advice at all times and they will always act on the clients behalf and not with a hidden agenda - Now which would build the better relationship?

Pre Qualified - The best way!

Recruitment for Dummies - Part1 - Pre qualified candidates

For the seasoned professionals out there this will be a tremendously boring entry as I am certain that the reasons as to why Pre qualified candidates are an absolute must will be plainly evident to most but bear with me, for the uninitiated its pretty valuable information and perhaps even more so today than it was yesterday.

There are two vital components to the matching of candidates to roles in the UK financial services industry. The actual sourcing of the candidate - obviously quite important! And something we will delve into in greater detail at a later date, and the second is pre qualifying them or matching them to the role.

Its hugely important once you've found your candidate to make sure that they are a good fit for the role and even more so today than it perhaps was a year ago. The UK financial services industry is contracting and client companies are more definitive as to their specifications now, a lot more than they used to be. To use a sliding scale as an example, whereas last year the client company might have taken a look at a candidate who, in terms of skills and qualifications being a match to the role, was a 6.5 or 7 out of 10, this year they want a 9.5 or 10! So the skill comes in not only finding the right candidate but pre qualifying them to be absolutely sure that the guy/gal you are putting forward has a damned good chance of getting the job. Time is precious in the UK FS recruitment industry and you don't want to be wasting it on a candidate who plainly has no chance of getting the role when it could be better spent finding someone who would have.

Firstly, there are two ways of making sure the candidate is right for the role - pre qualify them over the telephone or face to face. Of course, face to face is the ideal, it's so much easier to build a rapport with the candidate. Still, if distance makes it prohibitive, the telephone, providing the questions asked are asked in the right way and the right questions are asked, is a very good way of ensuring you have a good fit.

Open questions are King - a good recruitment consultant asks the right question and then sits back, listens to the answer and dissects whats relevant and whats not. But let the candidate do most of the talking - you'll find that you'll get a much better idea as to whether or not they are a good match to the post you're looking to fill. Do they use a good conversational style, are they easy to understand, do they use relevant phrases and words, are they confident, expansive? A good financial adviser should tick of all of those boxes.

As a consultant in the UK financial services recruitment industry its more and more important to make sure that you have the right person for the job you're trying to fill. Its no longer good enough to just take a CV off a job board, find out if the candidates interested in what you have to offer and send it off to all your clients in the area. Pre qualification is the key - be more selective, throw less mud against a wall - and watch more of what you do throw - Stick!

Social Media, new business gold or a waste of time?

For recruiters in the UK Financial services industry its a turbulent time to be doing business. Companies are downsizing, there are less actual vacancies, organisations are a lot more specific than they were a year ago as to what they want, candidates are more likely than ever to be dealing with another agency and its more difficult to find advisers and finance professionals of the right quality. So, in my mind, anything we can use to our advantage in terms of both sourcing new business and new candidates is more than welcome. In any case, the value of social networking, if used correctly can be immense as indicated by the number of people now using social networking sites.

The strength of your brand and therefore your business is influenced heavily by the web and other media's and of course, word of mouth is still one of the best ways to build a reputation. Everyone has access to a computer and the FS recruitment industry is now recognising the value of social networking, 'word of mouth' for the electronic age, in building a brand and finding new business. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace, they are all valuable tools in getting your name and your reputation out there and most, if not all offer company profile pages.


There are obviously things to do and things not to do when raising your profile on these sites and I suppose it won't hurt to list one or two:

• Use your real name and not just a faceless brand ie; Jim@ XL-Recruitment rather than just XL-Recruitment - it builds a more user friendly image


• Use recommendations - a powerful tool!


• Be careful about the content placed on your profile - it has to come across as human and not just an organisation


• Target the audience you want and focus on those particularly
  

Just a couple of things that should be looked at when building your brand on social networking sites.

Most of these sites have job boards now, which are again a hugely valuable resource, and some of the networking groups can be real sources of value. If anything though, the key to it is getting the right people. The same as sourcing in any particular way, its about finding the right calibre of individual or the right opportunity.

Web based marketing is here to stay and over a difficult period, the more widely you are known and the better your brand recognition, the more value will come from what you are doing. I think in the UK we are perhaps a little behind our friends across the pond in recognising the value of the web to the UK Financial Services recruitment industry but we are catching on and the more time spent building your brand, the better the rewards. Social Networking? S Where do I sign up?

Is financial advice made an attractive career prospect?

How many times did your careers adviser suggest to you at school or college that you might like to be a 'financial adviser'?

If they were anything like mine, I doubt very much if they mentioned it once. Is it the industry itself that is seen as an unattractive career choice or is it the fact that its not advertised heavily and pushed like other career options such as 'nursing' or 'teaching'. The financial adviser should be of no less value than those careers. Arranging someones finances to enable them to achieve their dreams is a noble idea certainly and one that should be marketed. The reality however is that an industry that has seen better days in terms of consumer confidence is awash with people that don't generate much in the way of trust - no offence to the hundreds of thousands of very, very good professionals out there - its more that one or two bad eggs that are heavily publicised have more effect on the uptake of a new generation of advisers than the good ones do.

So what can the financial services industry do to make itself a wholly more attractive career proposition? Can they offer FS exams as a supplementary addition to the curriculum? work experience shadowing financial advisers, apprenticeships perhaps? Cash incentives like the golden handshakes offered to teachers?

They say that there is no such thing as bad publicity, I beg to differ, given the pounding the FS industry is taking at the moment in the media, however, I think the best thing that financial services can do to make itself more attractive as a career choice, is clean up its act, regulate itself more critically, make itself whiter than white and restore consumer confidence in what to date has been to most, a shadowy law unto itself. Only then will we see more younger people entering the industry.

Is generating new business the Key?

Or is it servicing the clients you already have at a higer level than previously? I think there are pro's for both and given the state of the ecomony in the UK financial services market currently, there is nothing wrong with having more than one string to the bow.

Generating new business does not always mean the corresponding 'new revenue', well, not immediately anyway. For a financial adviser in the UK there is much importance placed on the generation of new business, particularly in interview. One of the key questions you will be asked at interview is not 'how much total you have written in gross commissions or API' but 'what was the percentage of new business'. Because an adviser with a large percentage of new business is a proactive adviser, someone who is not afraid to contact new people and sell the company, its services and finally 'a product'. In some cases, although you may generate the contacts, it can be difficult to convert them to 'business' without demonstrating a high level of client servicing first.

Which brings me nicely onto new business generation via the servicing of existing clients. How mant times a year do you phone exisiting clients? I would suggest it should be plenty. The better serviced a client feels and the more happy with the service received, the more likely they are to refer you to their friends or their colleagues. It doesn't take a genius to work out that referrals from someone who is already happy with the way you treat them are almost certainly more likely to do business. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool. In this day and age with email and social networking at the forefront of any brand recognition strategy, treating your exisiting clients in the most considerate way possible is a very good way to secure new business.

As I said at the beginning, there are pro's and cons for both and you should definitely pay equal attention to both areas of business, if you want to be succesful that is!