That’s what Netwealth head of distribution Nick Mitchell had to say when asked about the client experience in financial advice earlier this year at the IFA Convention 2018.
In an exclusive ifa Show podcast recorded live at the event, Mr Mitchell joined two leading advisers to discuss the impact that technology has had on customer service in financial advice.
“If you think about a client who is about to walk into their adviser’s office, that adviser has got to understand that they are no longer being compared to the financial planner down the street, to banks or other financial institutions. They are being compared to Amazon, Facebook and Netflix,” Mr Mitchell said.
“The last experience that client had form a service point of view might have been booking a flight via their Qantas or Virgin app. It might have been downloading an e-book. Checking their Facebook feed for news. Really seamless, frictionless experiences. So to then go into an adviser’s office, that is the expectation that has been set.”
Listen to the full episode now.
Legislation does not allow us to be on the same playing field. If Netflix was like financial advice I’d have to go off to a separate webpage and press an accept button, download some code that would allow me to get sent a SMS message and use that message to generate an email, which would then allow me to download another piece of secret code, that would allow me to go to a screen with a disclaimer , saying you’re about to book or download our product, I’d then be sent another confirmation email and after reading that and accepting the terms and conditions, i just might be able to download stuff.
I’d then send off all those codes and emails and finally the product provider would say I missed something.
It may be debatable as to whether the client wants it or not. But for the sake of compliance and efficiency, the adviser needs digital efficiency, don’t they?
I’m aiming for Drive Thru Advice – in and out in 5 mins, without leaving your car!
If we want to be frictionless then we should do away with the mountains of compliance crap we bombard on clients then! They hate it, & dont read it. How can you have an operation and only sign a one page form, yet to do something simple in Financial Planning world takes forever, with several trees sacrificed for paper.
good question. next. send your query to asic
Yes, some quality ‘breaking news’. Who would’ve thought that in this day and age clients have the expectation that the service provided to them will be frictionless & free flowing..
This is the reality for all client-facing roles. Technology is driving evolution and revolution within all industries and the onus is upon those who operate within said industries to keep pace. This isn’t a case of pandering to the finicky, internet-influenced demands of Gen Y, it’s about being effective and efficient within your position. Everyone should have the aim of bettering themselves and the service they provide – that’s business.
I’m not sure how old the author is , but that is certainly not the case with the majority of the clients we see who are in the main in their late 40’s or older. They actually expect good old fashioned service e.g. returning their phone calls or emails promptly , sticking to service deadlines promises etc…. Yes I would expect the younger generation to “maybe” compares us to those other services but for now give your client a good service experience and personalised strategic financial planning and they will keep coming back and refer their friends. COmparing us to Netflix? “Give me a spell”
Agree the work is in aged care advice and retirement for many years to come and they certainly do not expect tech driven advice, typical response of someone selling a tech platform.
[i]”really seamless, friction-less experiences”[/i] is the expectation of my client
(honestly) [i]efficiently[/i][b][/b] (and fairly) is the expectation of my regulator
Solution: Amazon, Facebook and Netflix provide financial advice
Not really Nick, people don’t have a professional relationship with Amazon and Netflix as they are an entertainment product and a service respectively – but at least this is not another opinion piece from Matt, just his offsider with the same overly simplistic techy message. Clients don’t need to check their super balance daily, and in fact, doing so is a really really bad idea.