Electronic factfinds are tedious!
One of the most enduring problems since the dawn of electronic solutions for advice at the point of sale has been the almost insurmountable difficulty in capturing client data.
Ask a successful adviser if they use electronic factfinds when available, the majority will say they do but not during a client interview – most will prefer to capture the data on paper and then transcribe it to the electronic solution back in their office.
The inhibition to use electronic solutions is deeply ingrained – most adviser firms with whom we deal, treat the use of electronic factfinds with caution.
So why does this phenomenon occur? In the main, there are three major issues raised by advisers; the first is the disruption the use of technology brings to the face-to-face interview and the distraction and lack of control to the interview process; the second is the clunkiness of the solutions currently delivered by the software vendors; finally, the underlying technology does not quite meet the need of the advice process, in terms of being able to collect easily data away from the office and at a client’s home or office.
So what’s on the horizon? Last week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas a number of interesting developments were launched by major vendors like Microsoft and Intel. Bill Gates talked about Microsoft enabling simpler user interfaces, using gestures, eg flicks of the hand, pointing of index finger etc. – he admitted that Microsoft had overplayed the importance of Tablet PC (a PC with a pen and touch screen), a technology actually used in the UK by Positive Solutions. The next important announcement was from Intel – they have predicted that within 5 years, the roll-out of internet capabilities with either 3G (HSDPA) or WiMAX (a new style of high-speed wireless) will revolutionise the ‘personal internet’ – this would enable high-speed data communications almost anywhere.
With the combination of advanced gesturing, easier user interfaces and high-speed, anytime, anywhere communications the potential for natural, unobstrusive data capture using technology at the point-of-sale moves very much closer.
Compare the very natural way of using Apple’s iPhone mobile ‘phone with a conventional PC keyboard, and it’s like comparing Fred Flintstone’s car with a Bugatti Veyron – personally, I can’t wait.
