One of the most consistent themes that comes up in conversations with financial planning business owners is prospecting. It surfaces in different ways and at different stages of a business’s growth, but it rarely disappears entirely. That persistence is worth paying attention to, because it suggests that prospecting challenges are not simply a function of individual effort or motivation, but something more structural within how many businesses are designed and led.
In some businesses, the concern is uneven performance. A small number of advisors seem to generate most of the new business, while others struggle to gain traction despite working hard. In others, prospecting is heavily personality-dependent, working well for confident individuals but faltering when advisors are more advice-led, reflective, or early in their careers. There are also businesses where activity is high, yet momentum remains elusive, with plenty of movement but very few meaningful conversations progressing through to new clients.
What these situations often have in common is that prospecting is still treated primarily as an individual responsibility. Advisors are expected to “go and find clients”, often without a shared definition of how that should happen, what good prospecting looks like in practice, or how progress should be supported and measured. When results are inconsistent, the conclusion is frequently that more effort is required, rather than a closer look at the environment within which that effort is being applied.
At the same time, the profession itself has changed significantly. Financial planning is now firmly advice-led, operating in a far more regulated and transparent environment, with clients who are more selective about who they engage. Yet many of the expectations placed on advisors around new business generation still reflect earlier models that were shaped in a very different context. This creates a tension that shows up in practice, particularly for newer advisors operating under commission-based or partially subsidised remuneration structures, with limited networks and little margin for error.
Increasingly, we are seeing a shift in how some businesses are approaching this challenge. Rather than asking only how advisors can prospect more effectively, these businesses are beginning to ask how the business itself can become better at creating opportunities for advice conversations. The focus starts to move from individual hustle to business-level capability.
This shift shows up in several ways. There is greater clarity around positioning and target markets, so advisors are not trying to be everything to everyone. Prospecting strategies are chosen deliberately and supported consistently, rather than left to personal preference. Pipelines are actively managed and discussed, not assumed. Mentorship and coaching are used to transfer experience, build confidence, and improve execution, rather than relying solely on initial training. Importantly, leadership becomes more involved in shaping the conditions under which prospecting happens, rather than treating it as something that occurs in isolation.
Our own work at FI Consult has evolved in response to these patterns. We began by working closely with individual advisors, because that is where the pressure around prospecting was most visible. Over time, that work expanded into in-person prospecting bootcamps, coaching, and training, as well as the development of structured resources such as the Client Acquisition Blueprint for Financial Advisors. Each of these initiatives emerged not from theory, but from repeated exposure to the same challenges across different businesses.
More recently, it has become clear that sustainable progress often requires engagement at business level. When new business development is treated as a leadership concern rather than solely an advisor task, the impact is broader and more durable. This insight is shaping the development of a comprehensive consulting programme focused on prospecting and new business development for financial planning businesses, which is currently in development. The intention is not to replace individual effort, but to support it with clearer structure, stronger alignment, and more intentional design.
None of this suggests that prospecting has become easier, or that there are simple answers. It does suggest, however, that the businesses making the most progress are those willing to rethink where responsibility sits, and how deliberately it is supported. As the profession continues to evolve, the ability to generate new advice conversations consistently is becoming less about individual resilience and more about leadership choices.
For business owners, the opportunity lies in stepping back from day-to-day urgency and asking whether their current approach to prospecting reflects the profession as it exists today. Where that alignment is strong, prospecting becomes more predictable, more professional, and ultimately more sustainable.
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