Talking with a tax and financial adviser recently he told me that his firm is a heavy promoter of tax schemes. “Not a great fan myself“ I said. His reply was almost the complete opposite of what I had expected:

“I’m not surprised” he said. “Few people actually go ahead and implement the schemes.”

“So why do you promote them so heavily?” I asked.

“Simple. It gets people through the door. We tell them what they could do and then when we explain the risks they just don’t have the appetite. But they like our approach and become clients anyway.”

This reply reminded me of the conversation I had in the Spring with the head of tax at a reputable tax consultancy. After he has explained the detail of a tax scheme to his clients they invariably say:

“Now I understand it properly, why would I want to go into a scheme like that?”

I explained this further in a post on the TaxBuzz blog: “Have a look at this scheme and tell me what you think”

Coming back to my tax advising IFA. Would you feel comfortable leading with a superficially attractive service offering if experience tells you that most prospects will reject it – albeit they may choose a different service?