The halfway point of the year is always a useful time for advisory firms to take stock, not least because it is often far enough into the year to see what is working, what is not, and what might need to change if those original targets and ambitions are going to be met.
Most firms and individual advisers will have started 2026 with a plan of some sort, whether that was a formal business plan, an income target, a growth aim, or simply a desire to write more business, retain more clients and make the most of the opportunities which came their way.
Some will now be ahead of where they expected to be, some will be broadly on track, and others may already be looking at the second half of the year as a period when they need to catch up. Given the turbulent nature of the first six months of the year, that may not be surprising.
There is nothing wrong with that however because few businesses move in a straight line, but the question worth asking is whether the only way to close any gap is to find more clients, or whether there is more value to be gained from the clients already being advised?
MORE BUSINESS DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN MORE CLIENTS
In our market, the first reaction to a quieter-than-hoped-for period is often to focus on lead flow, marketing spend, introducer links, rate changes and all the other moving parts which might bring more enquiries through the door.
Those things matter, of course, but they are not the full answer, particularly in a market where clients need more support, more contact and more help in understanding all the steps which sit around their mortgage.
A purchase client does not only need a mortgage recommendation, while a remortgage client may need more than a product transfer or a new fixed rate, and the firms which build stronger client relationships tend to be those which can help across more of the process.
Protection, general insurance, wills, later life planning and conveyancing all sit in that wider client discussion, and while no adviser can, or should, try to be all things to all people, they can make sure the client is being pointed in the right direction at the right time.
THE MISSED OPPORTUNITY IN CONVEYANCING
Conveyancing remains one of those areas where too many advisers are still leaving the client to sort it out themselves, often after spending weeks or months helping them reach the point where a purchase or remortgage can move ahead.
That seems odd because the conveyancing stage is where clients often face the most stress, the least clarity and the greatest risk of delays, yet it is also the point at which some advisers step back from the transaction.
From a client service point of view, that is a missed opportunity, because the adviser has already earned trust and is well placed to help the client make a more informed choice about who handles the legal work.
From a business point of view, it can also mean missed income, because platforms like conveybuddy allow advisers to earn a referral fee for purchase, sale or remortgage instructions, while still giving the client clear and transparent pricing and a proper choice of conveyancing firms.
STAYING CLOSER TO THE TRANSACTION
The other point, which is just as important, is control. When an adviser leaves the conveyancing choice entirely to the client, or allows that part of the process to drift elsewhere, they are also giving up a degree of visibility at the exact moment when a transaction can become more difficult.
If the client ends up with a poor service, unclear costs, slow updates or unexpected charges, that frustration can still come back to the adviser, even if they had no part in the conveyancer being chosen.
That is why firms should be seriously looking again at how conveyancing fits into their advice process, not as an add-on for the sake of it, but as a practical way to give clients a better chance of moving through the transaction with fewer shocks and better communication.
Through conveybuddy, advisers can quote quickly, offer clear fee detail, avoid unnecessary add-ons, and keep far closer to what is happening once the client has been referred. That matters, because clients remember who helped them when the process became difficult, not simply who found them a rate at the start.
A BETTER SECOND HALF STARTS WITH BETTER HABITS
The second half of the year will no doubt bring more market noise, more rate changes and more debate about whether activity is moving in the right direction, but advisory firms cannot control all of that.
What they can control is how they deal with each client already in front of them, how many relevant needs they address, how much value they add, and how close they stay to the full transaction.
For firms looking at H2 and wondering where extra income might come from, the answer may not always be more leads, more adverts or more hours at the desk. It may simply be a case of reviewing the advice process, spotting the gaps, and making sure opportunities such as conveyancing are not being missed when the client already needs that help.
