Simonoff asked: Is there a dichotomy between young folks’ complex needs and their almost insatiable appetite for information?
The kind of information NexGen clients want may be complex, but it should never be time consuming, said McKinnon, adding, “They more appreciate back-of-the-envelope financial planning.”
In fact, she stressed the importance of getting a firm’s compliance team “on board with texting and using apps.” NexGen clients want answers by text or with a seven-minute or shorter video message.
In this way, the whole business model could be built around periodically touching base in short bursts—a “series of small touch points, maybe 15 minutes or less at a time, throughout the year,” said McKinnon.
It’s essential to clearly articulate service parameters, said Doder, and “don’t provide services the client doesn’t really want or need.” If they want more later, renegotiate terms.
“We have to stop thinking in terms of the tasks that we do and think more about the outcome of the tasks, their value,” McKinnon stressed. Sometimes, she added, advisors forget to tell clients why they make certain recommendations. That won’t connect with the NexGen.