How can client feedback make a good advice business even better?
Why listening to clients can help firms strengthen service, relationships and the experience they deliver
A client can be happy with their adviser and still have ideas about how the experience could be better.
Perhaps they would appreciate more communication between reviews. Maybe they value one part of the service far more than the firm realises. They might prefer a different way of receiving updates, or there may be a small part of the process that creates unnecessary effort.
Without asking, firms are often left to assume they know what clients value most.
That is where feedback becomes useful.
Client feedback does not need to be treated as a scorecard or something firms only seek when there is a problem. Used well, it becomes a way to understand the experience from the client's perspective, reinforce what is already working and identify small opportunities to make a strong service even better.
The Financial Advice Association Australia has highlighted client feedback as a way for advice firms to improve services, strengthen relationships and identify trends across their client base.
For a client-centred business, listening should be part of how the service evolves.
1. Clients can tell you what they value most
Advice firms invest considerable time in designing their service offering, but the things a business believes are most valuable are not always the things clients appreciate most.
A firm might place significant emphasis on investment reporting, while clients particularly value having someone simplify complicated decisions. An adviser may believe the annual review is the centre of the relationship, while clients value the reassurance of knowing someone is available when circumstances change.
The FAAA's 2025 Value of Advice research provides an interesting perspective. Its consumer research found that the benefits clients associate with advice extend beyond financial outcomes to include improved financial wellbeing, clearer understanding of financial matters, greater decision-making confidence and having a trusted partner to navigate financial challenges and opportunities.
Feedback can help individual firms understand what that value looks like for their own clients.
Rather than assuming which parts of the experience matter most, firms can ask. The answers can help reinforce the services, conversations and behaviours clients already appreciate.
What firms can do now: Ask clients what they value most about the relationship, not simply whether they are satisfied. The answers may reveal strengths worth investing in further.
2. Good feedback goes beyond a satisfaction score
A satisfaction score can be useful, but it rarely tells the whole story.
A client who gives a service nine out of ten is clearly positive, but the number does not explain why. Equally, an eight out of ten does not necessarily reveal what would have made the experience better.
The most useful feedback often comes from simple, open questions.
What have we done particularly well?
Is there anything you would like us to do differently?
Is there anything that would make working with us easier?
What part of our service do you value most?
The FAAA has highlighted examples of advisers using similarly straightforward questions to understand how clients actually feel about the service, rather than focusing only on the technical outcome of the advice.
These conversations can reveal things a standard survey may miss. A client might appreciate the frequency of communication, value the way complex ideas are explained or mention a small administrative improvement that would make the relationship easier.
Feedback becomes much more valuable when firms understand the reason behind the answer.
3. Expectations can change as the relationship develops
What a client values at the beginning of an advice relationship may not be exactly what they value five or ten years later.
Early on, clarity and reassurance may matter most. As the relationship matures, clients might place greater value on proactive communication, responsiveness or knowing their adviser understands how their circumstances have evolved.
Netwealth's Creating Loyalty That Lasts research, based on insights from more than 500 Australians, found that client expectations shift throughout the advice relationship. Its research identifies proactive communication, operational transparency and ongoing reassurance among the factors that can support lasting client loyalty.
That makes feedback particularly valuable over time.
Asking once at onboarding provides a snapshot. Creating opportunities for feedback throughout the relationship helps the firm understand whether the service is continuing to reflect what clients value.
This does not mean constantly surveying clients. Feedback can be gathered naturally through review conversations, periodic surveys, informal check-ins or discussions when the client's circumstances change.
What firms can do now: Build feedback into different stages of the client relationship rather than treating it as a one-off exercise.
4. Feedback can help make service more professional
One of the biggest opportunities in client feedback is personalisation.
Not every client wants exactly the same experience. Some appreciate frequent updates, while others prefer less communication unless something requires their attention. Some enjoy digital interactions, while others value a phone call or face-to-face conversation.
Understanding these preferences can help firms make communication more relevant without completely redesigning the service for every client.
Netwealth's 2025 AdviceTech research identifies data-driven personalisation as an emerging opportunity for advice businesses, particularly where information can help firms communicate with clients at more relevant moments in their financial journey.
Feedback adds an important human layer to that information.
It allows clients to tell the firm what good service looks like to them.
As a business grows, this can help preserve the feeling that clients are known individually, even when stronger systems and broader teams are supporting the relationship.
What firms can do now: Alongside general feedback, ask clients how they prefer to communicate and what kind of contact they find most useful.
5. The real value comes from closing the loop
Asking for feedback creates an expectation that someone is listening.
That does not mean every suggestion needs to become a new policy or service. Different clients will naturally want different things, and firms still need to make decisions that work for the broader business.
But where feedback reveals a useful pattern, acting on it matters.
Perhaps several clients say they would appreciate clearer updates while advice is being prepared. The firm might introduce a simple progress communication. If clients regularly ask what happens after a review meeting, the follow-up process could be made clearer.
Just as importantly, tell clients when their feedback has contributed to an improvement.
That closes the loop.
It demonstrates that feedback is not being collected for the sake of a survey. It is being used to shape the experience.
The FAAA notes that integrating client feedback can help firms refine their service, strengthen loyalty and remain relevant as client expectations evolve.
What firms can do now: Look for patterns rather than reacting to every individual comment. When several clients identify the same opportunity, it is worth investigating.
Listening can become part of how a great firm gets better
Client feedback does not need to begin with the assumption that something is wrong.
Quite often, it confirms what the business is already doing well.
That information is valuable too.
Knowing why clients stay, what they appreciate and which parts of the relationship create the most confidence can help a firm protect those strengths as it grows.
The FAAA's 2025 research found that 93% of advised Australians surveyed believed they were tangibly better off because of their adviser, while 96% said their adviser helped them remain confident in their strategy during periods of market and geopolitical uncertainty.
Those are strong foundations for the profession.
The opportunity for individual firms is to understand what creates that value for their own clients and keep learning from it.
A good advice business already listens during client meetings.
A great one can take that principle further by listening to how clients experience the business itself.
At Levera, we help advice firms build the support and operational structures that allow great client experiences to be delivered consistently.
Client feedback can provide another valuable input into that process, helping firms understand what deserves protecting, what could evolve and where small improvements may create meaningful value.
Because improving client experience does not always require adding more.
Sometimes it starts by listening more closely.
Want to create more capacity around the client experience in your firm? Book a time to chat.
