Conscious Uncoupling: Seven Ways to Fire Clients Ethically

Posted by: EOForLess on February 26, 2015

“Firing clients.” Now that’s something that gets a lot of attention these days, in part because it conflicts with the traditional notion of the customer always being right. But experts say some clients are so troublesome and so expensive to serve that you must fire them in order to protect your bottom line, your staff […]

The Truth about Client Lies . . . and What to Do About Them

Posted by: EOForLess on February 16, 2015

“Lying is an elementary means of self defense,” said American author and critic Susan Sontag. Many financial advisors would surely agree with that statement. Every day, they encounter prospects who lie in order to deflect their sales efforts. And even after they buy, clients may continue to deceive in order to cloak their inability (or […]

Regret Nothing: Five Lessons from Rogue Advisors, Part 2

Posted by: EOForLess on February 9, 2015

In your final days, will you regret having worked too hard? Bronnie Ware, the Australian palliative care nurse we wrote about in Part 1 of this series, says many people have that and several other common regrets at the end of their lives, which she discusses in her book “The Top Five Regrets of the […]

Regret Nothing: Five Lessons from Rogue Advisors, Part 1

Posted by: EOForLess on January 29, 2015

When you’re on your deathbed, will you regret having spent so much time at the office? Probably not, say healthcare workers who counsel patients in their final days. In fact, one such worker, Bronnie Ware, an Australian palliative care nurse, collected her patients’ disappointments on her blog, eventually publishing a book on the topic called […]

Six Ways to Avoid E&O Claims

Posted by: EOForLess on December 26, 2014

* A surgeon removes the wrong limb from a patient. * A lawyer forgets to notify a client of a plaintiffís settlement offer. * An accountant screws up a customerís tax return, triggering an IRS penalty. These mistakes are examples of a professional making an error or omitting a key action that harms a client. […]

Rogue Advisors: The Perils of the Self-Centered

Posted by: EOForLess on December 18, 2014

It’s hard to avert one’s eyes when rogue advisor accounts appear in the press. In the same way people stare at twisted car wrecks, ethical advisors want to read about how rogues scam the old, the disabled, and the gullible. And what do they learn from these stories? That self-centeredness is a plot twist with […]

Non-Compete Agreements: Keep or Break?

Posted by: EOForLess on December 2, 2014

There’s so much confusion about two simple verbs: “can” vs. “should.” Just because you can drive 125 miles per hour on the highway—or leap from one rooftop to the next for sport—doesn’t mean you should. Apparently, Martha Stewart, the home fashion magnate, has confused these verbs, too. After she got out of prison for obstruction […]

E&O No: Do’s and Don’ts for Responding to Client Disputes

Posted by: EOForLess on November 17, 2014

Many financial advisors view E&O disputes as something that only happen to incompetent or criminal financial advisors. In reality, the odds of incurring a claim or lawsuit are quite high, with insurer statistics suggesting as many as one in seven advisors experience a claim at some point in their careers. Accepting this fact will equip […]

The Butterfly Effect: How Bad Partners Can Crash Your Firm

Posted by: EOForLess on September 10, 2014

Reputation is as delicate as a butterfly’s wings. It follows that a small event distantly related to your business can have a huge impact on your reputation and even create errors-and-omissions insurance problems. You may recognize this as the “butterfly effect”—named after the possibility that a butterfly flapping its wings in Belize can generate a […]

Life’s Duty: Will You Answer the Call?

Posted by: EOForLess on August 26, 2014

Imagine one of your clients wants to buy life insurance (yes, it happens). But you never get around to sell the product because you had bigger fish (read: “products”) to fry. Or what if you knew a client had a large life insurance need, but you never raised the topic because you were just too […]