Ok sounds easy right? You sell X, pick your label.

However, when you boil it down, is that what you do?

After nearly 20 years in this industry, we still struggle to explain what we do.

Why? Because what someone in financial services does can be very very broad, even when confining oneself to a narrow product set, like life insurance or mortgages.

Take life cover for example; to the question of; How do you advise clients on life cover?

I often get a blank look and a question; In what situation? Normal kitchen table, family, house and kids. Umm.. is often still the answer.

Moreover, this is due to most of us shooting from the hip when it comes to advice. Sure we have template-based reports, and we have some needs analysis or fact find information.

When it boils down to it, when coming up with the numbers, most advisers make it up as they go along. I mean that in the nicest possible way, you have an approach in your head you use and mostly you are consistent with it.

However, how consistent are you with it?

Have you reflected on what that looks like for your client's reality when they are facing the opposite wall with no partner and life is still going on?

What does good advice look like?

It is a bit like art, you know what good and bad art look like, but defining the terms good or bad is difficult, it is very subjective.

In our world, we have the same challenges with defining what good and bad advice looks like, but we know it when we see it, with the unfortunate reality hindsight is the lens used far too often.

We are heading into licensing for everyone, and we have had years of seminars telling us we should prepare.

Well, it is nearly here, part of licensing is going to be about being able to demonstrate that you can give good advice.

The regulator for licensing is not going to judge you on what you say, but more that you can demonstrate you have a process for your advice.

This is going to include how you calculate your numbers. Disability products easy, but your lump sums, how are you going to go with that?

It is things like this that are ultimately going to determine if you are going to be a licensee adviser or a sales agent working under a licensee's advice process.