We are doing everything by the book in terms of hiring and team development in our firm. We use a recruiter, have an on-boarding process, team-up new hires with existing staff members, and conduct regular performance reviews. So why are my employees still lackadaisical?

During the holidays we have always sent tasteful gifts to our clients. This year the other partners are encouraging me to abandon the tradition in favor of a donation to a favorite charity. It would be our choice of a charity and not the client's choice. I am uneasy about this.

An advisor in the same town as I am is winning business that should be going to my firm. Prospects tell me that he makes claims that I know are patently untrue. Is it appropriate in sales meetings to tell prospects that this guy lies?

It's hard for me to get clients excited and upbeat these days. The markets have been disastrous and unpredictable for too long. How can I get myself back on track?

Discussion of financial advice among acquaintances has gone totally off the grid. It has become an almost universally taboo subject. People are loath to broach any conversation about personal finances. What are your thoughts?

My company is going to win the award for ?Meeting Mania.? When clients want to meet, I can?t accommodate them because of all the meetings we are required to attend: update meetings, investment meetings, focus groups, team breakouts, etc. It?s crazy, and I am not productive in this environment. How can I stop the insanity of these meetings?

We have a team-selling approach. We have portfolio advisors, salespeople and client-servicing people who all go on calls together. I own the firm and I'm tired of hearing each of them complain to me about one another. It's always someone else's fault. What advice can you give me so that I don't say something that I will regret?

I work for a large firm as a portfolio manager. We are increasingly asked to make sales presentations and find new business. Is managing money no longer important in this business?

Building strong personal relationships with your clients and consistently exceeding their expectations for direct, personal service ? these traditionally were the best ways to generate referrals. But what if that's no longer enough?

I work for a large financial firm. I am continually frustrated by the fact that we generate lots of good ideas and talk about what we need to do, but rarely get things done. Many things stay open-ended, or up for discussion. I am part of the problem because I am so busy, as is my team. How can I be more of a doer and less of a talker?

Everyone tells me I can sell more through relationships with attorneys and accountants. I have some that I know well. I refer to them, but they don't reciprocate. What am I doing wrong?

Here are five things I've learned about what women seek in the marketplace.

I was hoping to sell my firm to another financial advisor. When the time came to close the deal, he turned into a different person, trying to negotiate for all kinds of things and generally being very nasty. The deal fell apart. How do I find a suitable buyer who will treat me with respect and negotiate fairly?

Is it reasonable to expect my younger staff to stay off Facebook and their phones, and concentrate on what they need to do to be successful? Is there anything I can do to get them to unplug and concentrate on our work during work hours?

I have clients with whom I have worked for some time, and they just don't make the decisions they need to. They will say they have a referral for me, for example, but never give me a name or contact info. They will say they are going to come to a client event, but then not bother to show up. What can I do to make them more active and responsive?

What do I do when I have staff members who don't seem interested in self improvement? They aren't bad workers per se; just not motivated to improve. It frustrates me no end that I can't light a fire under them.

Is gossip bad in a small firm, or can it be useful? I like to have employees tell me what's going on in our eight-person advisory firm. For me, it's where I get my best information about what's really going on. Is there a better way for me to manage? I don't want to be destructive but I don't want to cut off my best sources of information.

What do you do in a partnership where one advisor (me) is aggressive, works late every night, brings in a lot of new business and the other (my partner) is lazy? It's beginning to annoy me that while I work hard, he just reaps the benefits without an equal contribution.

What do you do when you are pretty sure your clients are on the verge of divorce?

What do you do when your client base is largely made up of elderly people and they are starting to fail - especially mentally? I have a number of clients who seem to be suffering from early dementia and memory loss. I don't want to be offensive to them, but I don't trust they even understand what I am saying sometimes about their financial situation.

I'm about to hire a salesperson for the first time. We need a go-getter who will find us new business. How do I avoid conflict between this new person and my advisors? I want everyone to work together. Do I wait for tensions to dissipate or are there things I can do to set up for success?

We have very satisfied clients. Our last client satisfaction survey showed a 98% 'high satisfaction' rate. However, we don't get many referrals. It's frustrating because we do everything to serve our clients well - and we ask for referrals. Why don't happy clients refer to us?

We brought a new advisor into our firm two years ago - a rainmaker. In the beginning he added a lot of value and we were excited to have him. Lately he has been disruptive - boldly and publicly questioning some of the decisions my partners and I have made. Should I put up with the behavior?

We had to lay off a couple of people in our investment firm. As the founder and leader of the firm, the turmoil that resulted upsets me but I don't know what to do to give everyone confidence that I don't feel myself. Can you give me some tips about how to minimize the fear without being dishonest?

Here is the initial installment in what we hope will become a regular column from Beverly Flaxington, a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues.

Advisors, like so many people in relationship-oriented businesses, depend on strong communication to maintain and grow their businesses. In this guest contribution, author Beverly Flaxington discusses her new book about how advisors can communicate with ease and strengthen their bonds with clients.