Insights
Referral guides for professional firms - spotting the moment, referring clients compliantly, and earning a share.
The client questions insurance brokers hear most — and where to send each one
General insurance brokers hear personal finance questions constantly. Which ones you can answer, which ones you cannot, and where…
The missing continuity plan: shareholder protection and business LPAs
Consultants routinely map how a business would continue if an owner left, died, or lost capacity. The protective arrangements tha…
The client questions HR consultants hear most — and where to send each one
HR consultants field financial questions every week — and most cannot lawfully be answered by HR. A sorting guide for the ones th…
Client retention through referrals: the loyalty lever firms overlook
Most firms treat retention as a matter of doing core work well and pricing it fairly. The bigger lever sits at the edges of what …
The key-person audit that becomes a protection referral
Every business consultant maps dependency as a matter of course. The uncomfortable truth that one person holds the company togeth…
Pension scams: the warning signs that repeat every time
Pension fraud costs victims their retirements, not just their savings. The pattern is depressingly consistent — which makes it le…
The client questions business coaches hear most — and where to send each one
Business coaches sit closer to clients' money anxieties than almost anyone — without regulatory cover to answer them. The questio…
Why referral income compounds while fee income plateaus
Most firms hit a ceiling on fee income sooner or later, because it is tied to hours and headcount. Referral income behaves differ…
January is the most valuable month in your calendar — and not because of fees
For one month a year, accountants speak to everyone. What happens in those conversations decides the rest of the year.
The referral you already make for free — and what it's worth
Ask most firms whether they run a referral business and they say no. Ask whether they ever tell a client who to speak to about so…
Becoming the trusted hub: what happens when you can always say I know someone
There is a particular kind of firm clients never quite leave: the one that always seems to know who to call. Becoming that firm i…
How to disclose a referral fee to your client
The disclosure conversation feels harder than it is. Here's the structure, the timing, and what a clean paragraph of wording actu…
The exit conversation: where consulting ends and the advice referral begins
As a business consultant you shape the sale-ready company, but the questions that follow the deal are rarely yours to answer. Thi…
The compliant referral conversation, word by word
A compliant referral is mostly a matter of language: introducing clearly, disclosing honestly, and never straying into advice. Th…
The referrals your practice already makes — and gives away for free
Every accountancy practice is a referral engine. Most run it for free. A look at the economics of the introductions you're alread…
The protection gap: how to spot the client who's underinsured
The protection gap rarely announces itself, but the clues sit in the everyday details you already handle. This is how to notice t…
Referral partnerships between professionals: making them stick
Professional referral partnerships fail quietly: three introductions, no feedback, then silence. Making them durable is a design …
Shareholder agreements and the wills that must match them
When you review ownership documents you often discover the shareholders' agreement and the owners' personal wills tell different …
Referral fees for marketing agencies: what the rules actually say
No statute stops a marketing agency taking referral fees. But agencies serving financial clients sit near section 21 of FSMA — a …
Referral fees for IT consultants: what the rules actually say
IT consultants face no statutory referral-fee ban. The traps are contractual conflict clauses, the FCA perimeter when clients nee…
The retirement runway: spotting the client who needs advice now
The years approaching retirement are when the right guidance counts for most. Here is how to spot the client on that runway and h…
Referral fees for insurance brokers: what the rules actually say
FCA-authorised insurance brokers can pay and receive referral fees. The rulebook cares about conflicts, disclosure of remuneratio…
Referral fees for HR consultants: what the rules actually say
HR consultants face no statutory ban on referral fees. The real constraints sit elsewhere: bribery law, the boundary around finan…
Referral fees for business coaches: what the rules actually say
Business coaches can earn referral fees for introducing clients to regulated financial advisers. With no dominant professional bo…