Comprehensive And Ongoing Training And Communication
Investing in robust technology is a fruitless endeavor if it’s not properly utilized. And according to a recent Investcloud survey, the number one reason advisors are not adopting technology is because they lack proper training of the offering and do not fully understand how this offering can help them grow and scale.
New technology can be overwhelming to even the most tech-savvy advisors so ensuring you and your team focus on how the offering is being rolled out, and developing both a robust training and communication plan will be essential for increased adoption.
Learn From The Pros
Finally, we recommend taking a page from some of the best in world on how to technology can help to create the ultimate client experience. Take Amazon for example; they have made it so easy for their customers to do business with them. Just one click and that’s it! How can we, as advisors, make doing business with us this easy? Technology will be the answer. Whether it be our clients having the ability to access their accounts from their phones, communicate their questions through text or being able to view their entire portfolio all in one place, are just a few examples of that. And that will be just the beginning.
Another example is Ritz Carlton. They were early adopters of the term Client experience. From having your preferences documented like which newspaper you like to read, to the type of room you prefer, having your coffee delivered without asking and greeting you by name when you enter their hotel, they embody client service. All firms need to be thinking about how we duplicate that experience for our clients and again, technology can help us with this via our CRM’s and automated marketing programs just as an example.
Our industry has a huge opportunity for continued growth and technology will be at the center of it all. Investing in it now, will set firms up best to capitalize on that growth for the future.
Rick Kent is founder and CEO of Merit Financial Advisors.