The importance of consumer feedback – VouchedFor Q&A with Alex Whitson

This guide showcases the advisers who received the highest volume of positive client feedback on the VouchedFor platform over the last 12 months.

Ahead of it's release, Financial Planning Partner, Ian Pickford, sat down with VouchedFor's Managing Director, Alex Whitson, to discuss the importance of public client feedback and how it has changed consumer behaviour.

Q.  What is the history behind VouchedFor?

VouchedFor was founded in 2011 by Adam Price. Adam, who came from a consultancy and banking background, found that many individuals struggled to find a good, trustworthy financial adviser.

Driven by the desire to help people find the right adviser for them, Adam set about adding more transparency to the process by building a financial adviser review site.

VouchedFor is now the UK's largest financial adviser review site, hosting 3,200 verified adviser profiles (which reflects growth of 40% in the past 12 months) and over 200,000 client reviews.

Q. Why is transparency in advice so important?

The benefits of financial planning in helping structure and grow wealth are clear, as is its ability to give peace of mind and improve mental wellbeing.

Trust is critical in unlocking the value of financial planning, and transparency goes hand-in-hand with trust.

Advisers must provide clear, accessible information to those considering financial planning advice, giving them the confidence to engage. Once these individuals become clients, advisers must continue to provide this level of information, reassuring clients that they are working in their best interests to help them achieve their wealth goals.

The VouchedFor philosophy is built on transparency. All advisers are encouraged to ask the individuals they have engaged with to leave feedback. Together with all the various checks, each adviser has passed, these reviews are displayed on their VouchedFor profile for prospective clients, clients, and professional connections to see.

Q. Have you seen an impact on consumer behaviour as a result of the pandemic?

We've found that individuals continue to seek out expert advice during times of uncertainty. They are, however, doing more due diligence to ensure they find the right advisers for them. VouchedFor's stats reflect this, with visitors to the platform spending 54% longer on adviser profiles than they did pre-pandemic.

The other exciting trend to emerge from the pandemic is that clients value their financial adviser more than ever. 65% more 5-star client reviews were left for VouchedFor advisers between March and December 2020 vs the same period in 2019.

Q. How is client feedback used to enhance financial planning services?

Many businesses complete annual client surveys, assessing business and individual performance; however, this data is rarely published. As VouchedFor is a public site, all of the feedback received is visible for anyone to read.

The visibility provides insights for advice businesses and motivates advisers to continue to deliver the best possible advice and service for their clients.

Why client feedback is so important to us

Our Financial Planners have been using the VouchedFor platform for just over eight months, and we have had just over 500 reviews, resulting in an overall ranking of 4.8 out of 5.

This client feedback provides valuable insight that helps shape our business and our services. It also motivates our team to continue delivering excellent client service and put it front and centre of all we do.

We are delighted to be ranked among the leading financial planning firms in the VouchedFor 2021 Top Rated Financial Adviser Guide.

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