However, due to the heavy legislative burden, the UK Financial Services has its own unique characteristics and a belief that ‘generic’ industry applications such as Salesforce would not work. There is still much debate as to whether online solutions will take off in Financial Services, buta quick review of the market shows that most vendors have moved away from the supply of pure offline solutions to either pure online solutions (e.g. IntelliFlo), or more often a hybrid solution, where the client database is online but the advisor can ‘check out’ a client to work on offline.

In studying the uptake of these solutions, it is interesting to note that the main advocate of the online world – IntelliFlo – is also arguably one of the most successful of the current vendors, with clients such as The Money Portal and Thinc having recently signed up to use their solution. Traditionally their success came from the sales of their Back Office system, but this has extended as they have enhanced their Front Office capability, with many of the organisations also using their online sales tools too.

Indeed, despite some detractors, the world appears to be going online with more and more recognising the benefits of a SaaS model.

- Microsoft have stated that the release of Windows after Version 7 (next major update) will be last ‘thick OS’
- Google Chrome is the foundation for a browser-based operating system
- Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe Apollo, AJAX etc, are extending UI and operation on local machine
- What were once desktop-only apps, are migrating online, eg Adobe Photoshop
- The Web 2.0 approach promotes application mashing, which is difficult to achieve with thick apps

In financial services the debate still runs on… and on… with some big offline vendors sticking to their principles and pushing the need for offline working. At the same time, the online vendors dismiss these prospects/clients who call for offline tools as old fashioned. In fairness, the debate is still a valid one and those vendors that offer both options still have a market edge in many cases. The diagram below illustrates the arguments from both sides. Who wins the argument will be decided case-by-case according to business models and cultures within the organizations.

They are designed to describe the key attributes of each vendor, provide an outline of their proposition and their key target market and customers.

It is our aim to keep the information up-to-date and so check back regularly to refresh your knowledge.

The documents can be found here: http://www.at8-group.com/library/library.html

Those that know me well will be surprised when I say “I’m impressed”, as I have a tendency not to express myself in those terms very often – but I’m impressed.

I’ve not managed to find an application that I use that doesn’t run on Microsoft’s new baby and my PC has been running for days on end without a hitch (I’m touching a very large piece of wood, whilst writing this, by the way). Even older pre-Windows XP applications run without issue – it’s very refreshing not to have to wrestle with my computer just to get an old but familiar application to run.

One of my favourite changes in Windows 7 is the way the Taskbar now operates, which allows space for your most used applications combined with the ability to jump directly to an open document.

In some ways, the new Taskbar arrangement is reminiscent of the Mac OS X Dock, but it doesn’t quite operate in the same way and lacks some of the flexibility, but nonetheless I think it works well and reduces the amount of screen clutter.

The Windows 7 beta release also contains the new Internet Explorer 8 – a new version of which has just been released (see http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/default.aspx) – this new release candidate is available to download now, although those running the Windows 7 beta are going to have to wait a little longer for it to be incorporated into a Windows Update.

So, I’ll plough on with my test; let’s just hope that when Microsoft finally lets the new creation onto the streets, it retains all the great features and robustness that I’m enjoying currently.

Those who haven’t read it, considered it and looked at the potential impact on their business model really ought to do so. Why… because this could be a ‘car crash’ for your business model.

Here are just a few questions to think about:

» What is your existing business model and does it deliver what you want in a way that you want?

» Will your existing model easily fit with the current FSA outline of how future distribution might work?
· If it does, how do you think that others will adapt to the new structure and what impact will that have on your business [‘the only constant these days is change!’]?
· Will it increase or decrease competition, will it affect your revenue and profitability, how will it affect your customer base and will there be any positive or negative brand implications?

» If your current model doesn’t fit, what will you do?
· Have you considered how you could change your business?
· Would a changed business model meet your strategic objectives, would it require major or minor change, does it fit your culture, would it be cost effective, how long would transition take?
· If you don’t agree with the possible changes to you business that you would have to make, how will you lobby changes to the FSA proposals?

» How will suppliers of services such as technology, Compliance and T&C have to adapt?
· Will the range and depth of advisory support coverage currently offered by POS systems and Wrap
· Will there need to be greater emphasis on research tools that provide qualitative as well as quantitative comparisons?
· Will there be a need to change back-office systems to deal with a wide range CAR combinations?
· How will technology be used to support the non advised ‘Assisted Sale’ approach?
· How can technology be used to help ensure that all parties act in a compliant manner and provide an auditable record of this in a cost effective way?

We have heard a number of views expressed from various parties in the industry and have been surprised at the lack of knowledge or degree of indifference. Even those who think that they are well placed to cope in a post RDR world may find that they are affected by how others do or don’t react – whether that be potential competitors or those that currently provide support to them! It is better to be forewarned and forearmed…

At work I get the same frustration with the brief amount of quality selling time now available as we seem to lose more and more time to holidays. It doesn’t seen long since we lost half of April to Easter Holidays and had selling time in May limited by two bank holidays, and now we’re entering the silly season of summer holidays. This of course extends beyond the school holidays as people without children take advantage of the cheaper packages.

All this means we have to maximise the key selling periods and for many this time rests in late September/October and early November. These months are absolutely key as budgets are being set for the following calendar year and therefore this is the ideal opportunity to be guiding clients in what they will need to purchase and helping them build their business cases.

The summer months therefore have to be used to ensure everything is in place to hit the streets running in September. Market propositions must be clear, sales and marketing plans finely honed and appointments booked. Don’t treat this as dead time but as the opportunity to align every little detail to ensure a tremendous Autumn of sales.

I would also add, don’t give up on sales in the summer as well. While mass market activity may not be possible, if your proposition is compelling and targeted you can still get some traction in the summer. Most success though will come with propositions that are small and focused, avoiding a large list of signatories. Focus your efforts and you can still have a profitable summer.

The biggest weakness sited is often sales management. Poor sales are always blamed for failure as clearly if more sales were made more revenue would be achieved. However life is rarely that simple and poor sales are often a symptom and not the route cause - which may lie in a poor product or poor delivery or simply bad luck. What is true though, is that better sales management will certainly increase the chances of success. So if its known to be so important why do so many people get it wrong.

Well first, sales as a skill is often under-valued. “Anyone can sell” says the founder, “its common sense”, as he recruits a mate to fulfil the role. Secondly when sales are finally valued, it is seen to simply be a matter of training to sort things out. However it’s my belief that while you can create an ok sales person through training a really good sales person or manager, especially for a high value or consultative sale, is born to it. They are natural communicators, natural managers, able to work in a high pressure role, motivated my money and/or success, commercially astute, driven, quick thinking and of higher intellect than normally (wrongly) considered necessary for a sales …. And to be a successful manager they need to combine all this with assertiveness and strong people management skills. No wonder there aren’t many of them and when you find them they cost the earth!

So what can you do to get one off these mythical beasts on board. Search high and low and don’t take second best – if in doubt don’t recruit! Get external help and guidance – there are some good recruitment consultants out there (as well as some awful ones). If you have people with the traits in other jobs, you can then grow them into the role but you will need to support them and not just give them simple training but ongoing mentoring.

Once you’ve found the right person – trust them, back their instincts, pay them well and don’t lose them. A good sales manager will make the job of the rest of the management a lot easier.

If you would like to discuss sales management or sales mentoring then contact mark.loosmore@at8-group.com