Financial advisers must accept a new paradigm has displaced the old, according to Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) chief executive Richard Klipin.
For the past 10 years, the move was from fee-for-advice to value "and now it is client experience", Klipin said.
"The enabler of this is technology," he said, using the analogy of travel plans, which had now been "disaggregated from travel agents because I have the power of search in my hands".
Financial advisers had to realise their service was "not a value proposition", he said.
Clients had expectations and planners had to ensure they were "great every time" they met with a client, he said.
Clients were now able to search "better and swifter than we can", he said.
"Financial planners' businesses are not SOAs (statements of advice) and FSGs (financial services guides). We are in the client experience business," he said.
"It's not the cappuccino machine, it's not the kid-friendly toys in the corner."
He acknowledged some advisers had failed their clients, citing the financial planning failure of Storm Financial.
"The tide went out and revealed poor practices. When people lose their houses, you can't defend the indefensible," he said.
The AFA has just published a draft code of conduct in response to ASIC's RG 183 on financial services sector codes of conduct, but the draft was just that - a draft.
"It's not just the leadership team's responsibility," Klipin said.
"We're only as strong as our weakest link."
Advisers had to adjust the way they did business and make the client the centre of their world, he said.
"If your best days are not in front of you, then you have to change your mindset," he said.
