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How do you compare to other financial advisers and planners? 25 quick-fire facts from our LinkedIn polls

Every Thursday, I run a LinkedIn poll on topics ranging from marketing to sales and business development to operations.

They’re handy for learning and researching. They also inspire follow-up blogs, and are a great way to drive engagement on LinkedIn because polls always attract comments and debate.

As we settle into 2025, we’ve looked back at some of our most interesting polls of 2024, covering topics such as:

  • Fees
  • Sales
  • LinkedIn
  • Marketing
  • Social proof
  • Practice management.

So, what do your peers say they’re doing? How do you compare to them? Keep scrolling to find out.

Fees

94% of advisers and planners don’t charge for initial meetings

Question: Do you charge a fee for initial meetings?

  • No: 94%
  • Yes: 4%
  • Other: 2%

443 votes

Advisers/planners are split on whether to cap ongoing fees

Question: Do you cap the ongoing fees clients pay you?

  • Yes: 52%
  • No: 48%

207 votes

Disclosing fees on websites is becoming a more popular option

Question: Are you thinking of adding a fees page to your website in 2025?

  • No: 36%
  • Yes: 17%
  • We already have one: 44%
  • Other: 3%

143 votes

If you’re one of the firms thinking about adding a fees page to your website in 2025, this blog explains the four things you should never leave off.

If you already have a fees page, this free scorecard will help you understand how effective it is.

Almost 9 out of 10 advisers/planners start charging their ongoing fee in the first year of working with a client

Question: In which year of your relationship with a new client do you normally start charging an ongoing adviser fee?

  • Start of the first year: 88%
  • Elsewhere, in the first year: 5%
  • At the start of second year: 6%
  • Other: 1%

282 votes

LinkedIn

We’re picky about who we accept connection requests from

Question: Do you accept every LinkedIn connection request you get sent?

  • Yes, all of them: 10%
  • No, just some of them: 89%
  • No, I don’t accept any of them: 1%

320 votes

Most LinkedIn users would like to post more often

Question: Are you happy with how often you post on LinkedIn?

  • Yes – It’s about right: 26%
  • No – I’d like to post more: 71%
  • No – I should post less often: 1%
  • Other: 2%

115 votes

Knowing what to post about is the biggest barrier for most LinkedIn users

Question: What stops you from posting more frequently and consistently on LinkedIn?

  • Knowing what to post about: 52%
  • Finding time to post: 32%
  • Fear: 8%
  • Other: 8%

97 votes

If you’re one of the 52% of advisers and planners who struggle with knowing what to post on LinkedIn, this blog will help.

Sales, marketing, and social proof

Half of all advisers/planners aren’t using rejection as an opportunity to learn

Question: If a prospect (new lead/enquiry) you want to work with decides not to become a client, do you ask them why?

  • No: 51%
  • Yes, by email: 33%
  • Yes, by phone: 15%
  • Other: 2%

120 votes

This blog explains what you should do when a prospect decides not to work with you so you can turn a setback into an opportunity.

Feedback from existing clients is better social proof than the size of your business

Question: Which of the following do you believe most impresses a potential new client?

  • Client videos, reviews etc: 67%
  • Size (client numbers or AUM): 2%
  • Qualifications/accreditations: 6%
  • Other: 25%

142 votes

Every member of your team, from the apprentices to the directors, should be on your team page

Who should be included on the team page of adviser/planner websites?

  • The whole team: 94%
  • Advisers/planners only: 5%
  • Why do I need a team page?: 1%
  • Other: 0%

216 votes

If we were voting, we’d be in the 94%, and this blog explains why.

Fear is stopping 1 in 5 advisers from impressing potential clients with Google and VouchedFor reviews

Question: Does the fear of getting a bad or negative review stop you from asking clients to leave reviews on Google and VouchedFor?

  • Yes: 18%
  • No: 81%
  • Other: 1%

119 votes

My Money Marketing column explains why you should feel the fear and do it anyway.

For many advisers/planners, compliance can sometimes be a barrier to effective marketing

Question: Advisers and planners, do you feel your compliance department, support provider, or network ever gets in the way of your marketing?

  • No: 33%
  • Yes, sometimes: 38%
  • Yes, often: 26%
  • Other: 2%

178 votes

Most advisers/planners believe financial promotions should be signed off in a maximum of three days

Question: What’s an acceptable turnaround time for compliance to approve a financial promotion?

  • Up to 3 days: 68%
  • 3-7 days: 25%
  • 8-14 days: 3%
  • Other: 3%

Podcasts are likely to be more popular than webinars in 2025

Question: Podcasts or webinars – which will be a more effective marketing tactic in 2025?

  • Podcasts: 51%
  • Webinars: 35%
  • Neither: 14%

83 votes

We’re not sure about this, because the barrier to running a successful webinar is lower than a podcast. If you’re thinking about running webinars, you’ll find this definitive guide useful.

Almost everyone wants blogs to be a maximum of 1,000 words

Question: What’s the ideal length for a blog?

  • Up to 500 words: 46%
  • 500-1,000 words: 44%
  • 1,000-1,500 words: 5%
  • Other: 6%

101 votes

This article explains how long we believe blogs should be. Click the link to discover if we agree with the people who voted in the poll.

Most advisers/planners would prefer to receive a referral from an accountant than a solicitor

  • Solicitor: 22%
  • Accountant: 75%
  • Other: 3%

126 votes

Practice management

Most advisers, planners, and firms don’t track time

Question: Do you or your business track time so you can see how long tasks take?

  • No: 56%
  • Yes, for all clients/tasks: 21%
  • Yes, for some clients/tasks: 22%
  • Other: 1%

91 votes

AI isn’t being used on a day-to-day basis by most advisers/planners and a third never use it

Question: How often do you use ChatGPT (or other similar AI platforms)?

  • Daily: 19%
  • Weekly: 27%
  • Monthly: 21%
  • Never: 33%

220 votes

Other interesting stuff

Very few financial advisers/planners pay someone else to advise them

Question:  If you’re a financial adviser/planner, do you advise yourself or pay a different financial adviser/planner for their time?

  • I advise myself: 88%
  • I pay an adviser/planner: 6%
  • Other: 7%

271 votes

This poll inspired Catherine Morgan to write a guest blog for us.

Opinions are split on what to do when someone doesn’t show up for an online meeting

Question: What do you do if someone hasn’t turned up for a Zoom/Teams meeting 10 minutes after the agreed start time?

  • Give them longer to arrive: 5%
  • Send an email reminder: 40%
  • Close the meeting: 43%
  • Other: 13%

262 votes

Most clients have their adviser/planner’s mobile number

Question: How accessible should you be? Do you give your mobile telephone number to clients?

  • Yes: 75%
  • No: 20%
  • Other: 6%

281 votes

People take a dim view of others who attend online meetings from coffee shops

Question: Is making Zoom/Teams calls from a coffee shop acceptable?

  • Yes: 27%
  • No: 69%
  • Other: 4%

291 votes

Advisers/planners are split when it comes to crypto conversations

Question: Financial advisers/planners –in 2025, do you expect more clients and prospects to ask you about investing in cryptocurrencies e.g., Bitcoin?

  • Yes, more will ask: 52%
  • No, the same number will ask: 43%
  • Other: 5%

244 votes

I wrote this article for FT Adviser explaining why I believe that some advisers/planners are missing a trick by not talking about cryptocurrencies.

Most advisers/planners use a written agenda for at least some of their review meetings

Question: Advisers/planners, do you use a written agenda in your client review meetings?

  • Yes, all the time: 50%
  • Sometimes: 32%
  • No: 18%

201 votes

Clients > customers

Question: What word should financial advisers/planners use when describing the people they work with?

  • Clients: 88%
  • Customers: 1%
  • Either works: 9%
  • Other: 2%

370 votes

Use polls to drive engagement and generate content

LinkedIn polls are tremendously helpful because they:

  • Inspire other content
  • Help you research topics
  • Deepen your understanding.

The high levels of engagement they get also help to raise your profile.

If you’d like help with running LinkedIn polls in 2025, our social media team would be very happy to help. Simply email hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300 and we’ll set up a no-obligation initial chat.

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