Quick fling relationships may not offer the allure they did back in your high-school or college days. But could it be that short, non-committal relationships can actually be valuable to your financial planning practice?

So-called spot financial planning – in essence,  pay-as-you-go or pay-as-you-need arrangements – have been gaining some currency among planners as well as consumers. 

It seems the beauty of offering financial planning services on this basis is two fold.  The first is the clarity of the product offering and the dynamics of a non-committal relationship, which some planners report as pleasantly surprising.  Next, there are the not-insignificant marketing aspects of spot financial planning. 

Jamie Milne, principal of Milne Financial Planning (www.milnefeeonly.com) and current chair of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, has been offering an $895 "financial tune up" for years.  The entire process – which includes a one-time review of a client's complete financial picture, or addresses a client's specific area of concern – lasts just four hours.     

"It's very satisfying to get something important for a client accomplished in a short period of time," says Milne. "And in some ways it's a relief to know that when that client walks out the door your relationship is, at least for the time being, done as well." Therefore, a lot of the difficult work of managing relationships – orienting the client to the firm's policies and practices, integrating the client onto your platform, getting to know one another and establishing a working (or in some cases non-working) relationship --  is simply not at issue. 

Milne says there is no prep time, and that all the work is done interactively on the spot.  He uses Moneytree Silver (www.moneytree.com/) financial planning software and Morningstar Principia (http://advisor.morningstar.com/pp/intro.asp) for asset allocation because both are quick and easy for on-the-spot analysis and report generation.

But spot financial planning also has some marketing benefits.  Milne reports that approximately 15 percent of his financial tune-up clients ultimately become permanent, long-term clients.  He suspects there are some spot clients he has who would be permanent clients had he not offered a pay-as-you-go option, but believes the number is negligible.

Thus, while there is a clear opportunity cost, spot financial planning is a marketer's dream in several important ways. 

First, spot financial planning increases the rate of trial.  Entirely new realms of prospects who would otherwise never engage a financial planner because they have, well, commitment issues, can be induced to give it a try. And some of these will see that their long held beliefs about the appropriateness and wisdom of doing everything themselves, are, for their particular circumstances, not correct. 

Next, says Milne, "You can get better buy-in from your clients."  He reports that when a plan or course of action is developed jointly, with significant back and forth on the spot, "the clients take much more possession of the final outcome."  Third, when you do spot financial planning, prospects get to see you in action.  They don't see you as person behind a desk or in a nice office, but rather as someone who thinks, evaluates, engages in iterative scenario analyses, and arrives at solutions.   

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, by engaging in spot financial planning, you build the foundation for a long-term relationship.  The traditional financial planning  model tells clients, "Take me as I am and have faith that you made the right choice and everything will work out fine."  While there is nothing wrong with this arrangement, it may very well be at odds with how individuals make decisions on long-term relationships. 

 And what if a spot financial planning assignment doesn't lead to a long-term relationship, but in fact leads the adviser or the client to conclude that it would be fine if they never spoke again?  Well, that's a good thing too. We've all had client relationships we wish we didn't and avoiding one altogether is a good thing too.