By Caroline Mirakian, Head of National Accounts at Pepper Money

There is always uncertainty in life but providing professional financial advice at the time of a global pandemic can be a particular challenge. So, what do your clients really want, and expect from you in this changing landscape?

Here are four of our tips:

1.    Get back to basics

In a challenging environment, a good first step is to take a step back and focus on delivering the basics really well. This is a common approach taken in sport when a new coach takes over an ailing team, and it applies just as well to any profession going through an uncertain period – get the basics right and the rest will follow.

We can learn many different lessons during challenging times and what I have realised – both from the credit crunch and the recent pandemic – is that the advice process is more valuable than ever during a time when financial circumstances and outlooks can change so quickly. This is a hardly an earth-shattering discovery but focusing on the simple things can often prove to be the most effective.

We’ve already seen many landlords take advantage of the recent stamp duty changes to add to their existing portfolios, but there are also other benefits on offer. A lesser known knock-on effect from this tax break is that it can also provide landlords with the opportunity to incorporate existing properties into a limited company structure.

There has been much talk about the pros and cons of incorporating a property or portfolio into a limited company structure in recent times. By adding further monetary gain into this equation, all types of landlords are re-evaluating their positions to see if they would be better off operating as a limited company.

As we head into what we all hope will be a sensible exit from lockdown, it’s inevitable that the past few weeks immersed within the confines of our own homes will have changed the outlooks, priorities and material needs of many homeowners and renters. And it will be interesting to see how these factors could impact the property market.

There are also other factors to take into consideration. Will remote working change the way businesses run and provide greater flexibility for a larger proportion of the workforce, therefore influencing the way people do, or don’t, commute. Or maybe people will require another room to incorporate that new office and realise that their current space is not enough for their future needs.