Over the last few weeks my colleagues have discussed their views on the use of technology by Advisers, particularly focused on the collection of data. In these blogs and the surrounding discussions it became clear that there is a conflict between the desire of the client and adviser for fast effective data collection and the barrier that technology can still be perceived to present when used inappropriately with clients.
Thinking through this dynamic further I sought to compare the adviser use of technology to my own, both in providing IT consultancy and in a journalistic context.
For presenting data or findings, technology is the default for me. Occasionally I still have situations where the client prefers a paper-based report to discuss but the vast majority of the time, I will present finding on the laptop or more and more the iPad. The iPad has taken the presentation of information and data a step further as it is such a collaborative and engaging device that it is passed around between the participants in the meeting to study the information further.
In talking to advisers, I find this same dynamic occurring with many of them too.
Although, as the data and calculations can be complex, there remains a reluctance by some to present the data electronically. The advisers that have embraced electronic presentation of information and the exploration of the data can provide huge advantages. Seeing an expert such as Paul Etheridge of Prestwood Financial, a couple of years ago use interactive cashflow planning with a client, gaining their buy in and ownership of the plan that is created, left me in little doubt that technology can add huge value in this process.
The face to face collection of data and information, in a factfind for example, is very different. In the context of my own activities, if the meeting is an update meeting I will use the iPad and the Evernote app to take details but if it is a new client or an interview to write an article, I’ll resort to pen and paper. I believe this reluctance is not dissimilar to the discussions surrounding the last blogs where for new clients a factfind appears largely to be completed on paper. In the circumstances and with general progress towards using technology, the fact that paper is still a part of the process does not seem to be a major concern at the moment.
From my own point of view, the first efficiency I am starting to gain is the reduction of travel time to each client. When I first started writing articles in Professional Adviser, I would visit the site of each person I interviewed. Now fifty percent of the meetings I have, including those reviewing the software, I do remotely using technology such as GotoMeeting or Skype. Sometimes, however, the use of technology isn’t appropriate for all meetings – sometimes a relationship may need special attention, or a sizable project depends on the meeting, then I will of course travel to the client site. Arguably this does slow down the relationship formation but when complemented with social media like Twitter, I would actually argue the end result can be a very effective long term relationship, as long as the client is treated with respect and I add value in the call.
My use of remote meetings are gaining momentum in the adviser community too. In the cost conscious fee based world in which we operate, many clients do not want to pay for an adviser to travel to them yet do not have the time to visit the adviser themselves. Therefore, remote meetings are increasingly coming into play. I heard from an Australian software company that had built a remote, interactive advice solution to help advisers sell to the prosperous mining community in remote parts of Australia. The decision was a logical and practical response to the challenging logistics, however, they found that the main users and beneficiaries of this software idea came from the cities were people were time pressured and would use the technology to advise clients that may only be a few blocks away but simply couldn’t afford the time out from work to visit an adviser. Back in the UK, Scottish Life has now trained up its consultants on using GotoMeeting so they can guide IFAs in this approach – clearly it is gaining momentum.
I am also looking to use remote electronic communication to improve the preparation for meetings, particularly interviews for articles we write, so will often now send a questionnaire to be completed before a meeting. This advance information gives me a more focused view and audit trail of information in the interviewees own words that can reduce the time the meeting takes to complete and strikes me as being similar to an adviser sending the client a factfind to complete prior to a meeting. Returning to Prestwood as an example of effective financial planning, the Prestwood team send out a factfind to clients before each review meeting so they can update their information prior to the review.
Currently, for my pre-meeting questionnaires, I usually use a spreadsheet or word document, which is relatively unsophisticated. However, we have started to use Survey Monkey for some questionnaires because it provides validation of the data as it is entered and provides a means to aggregate and analyse the information if there is more than one company involved in the interview.
Eventually we may look at a more integrated means of doing this where the interviewee goes to our website to complete the data (and maybe browse other information on AT8). This method would enable the completed data to be stored automatically on our contact management system – I can dream about having such integration but in the IFA world the back–office solutions are promoting client portals to do just that (although the commercials and functionality still need to be refined).
There is no doubt that technology can be a barrier and it is important to understand this reality and only use it where it adds value. Many of those involved in the follow up discussions I had on the recent blogs are the most advanced users of technology in the industry and use technology to massive benefit. What was clear from the discussions is that even these pioneers steer away from using technology for factfinding. Some are still looking to break down this barrier and experimenting with new technologies, but few, if any, have cracked this to enable it to become a core part of their process. In the same way, I am experimenting with taking notes on iPad apps like Penultimate but I am yet to be convinced that these are appropriate for long interviews. However, I will keep pushing the use of technology, as I have no doubt the Adviser community will.
