There’s no question that good financial advisors can be worth their weight in gold. The question is: what constitutes a good advisor? Firms and clients are likely to have starkly different opinions on the matter.

For firms, the measure of good advisors is what they bring to the bottom line. Are they gathering enough assets, generating sufficient revenue, and keeping both their costs under control and the compliance department at bay?

Clients are in it for the money, too. At the end of the day, they want to see returns on their investments. But they also look to their advisors for more intangible payoffs — to alleviate stress and anxiety with shrewd tax and estate planning, to calm their worries amid tumultuous markets and to guide them through the big changes in real life that affect their financial lives — births and deaths, personal triumphs and defeats.

Advisors who can deliver that sort of service are surely adding a great deal of value for their clients. But they may not necessarily be doing much for the bottom line at their firm. The pressure to produce for the firm and the pressure to perform for clients may often be at odds. Still, many advisors aiming to build sustainable businesses will lean toward meeting the concerns of their clients.

As the 2009 Advisor Survey, sponsored by Desjardins Financial Security in partnership with Investment Executive, shows, advisors who are able to look beyond the profit/loss figure are the ones who have weathered the recent financial crisis best.

And these advisors will be the ones that can slough off challenges from discount brokers, smartphone-based trading applications and whatever other forms of service commoditization their firms dream up in the future. Advisors who can only produce numbers will always be vulnerable to innovations that promise to generate the same results faster and cheaper.

On the other hand, advisors who can add value to their clients’ lives — not just their portfolios — will inspire greater client loyalty. And these advisors won’t have to measure their success solely by the tyranny of raw investment performance. The payoff is a more rewarding worklife in the short run — and a business that is truly their own in the long run.

In the clash of ideals between firms and clients, the smart advisor knows the customer is always right.