I notice that my practice is increasingly affected by client beliefs based on outdated information.1 This is especially true of clients who do not have ongoing advisory relationships. The reality is that what I said last year or even three months ago is likely not the best actionable advice now. This is growing into a significant business risk both for me and my clients. The pace of change is spiraling faster. I see more and more examples of my practice taking a 180 degree turn in strategy. I don’t reasonable have the opportunity to reach out to clients of past engagements. In fact, it isn’t even possible to update and keep current with written published guidance.
Since my business background stemmed from the realm of published advice, I have been forced to deal with the legal consequences of outdated published advice since the 1990s. We notice that both the law and public attitudes have changed dramatically since then. Some of these changes are legally helpful, but the trend of change is not so helpful in dealing with public expectations.
I am considering the options on how to deal with this. The probability that I will move exclusively to an ongoing subscription business model with built-in review and update mechanisms is increasing. There would be an explicit statement and understanding that the responsibility for the advice does not extend past the end of the engagement.
We can not affect the pace of change. We must address how we deal with it.
1 Last week I published a blog post in a closed membership group noting that up to half of my client ‘face time’ lately is consumed in addressing the distinctions between their perceptions and reality. That is a distinct but related issue.