Bluerating | August 2023
Web collaboration, digital signatures and video calls have become an established practice in the field of financial consultancy.
The digitalization of the relationships between financial advisors and their clients forms an apparent paradox, first and foremost because discussing money and projects entails a strong need for eye contact.
And also because, we must admit, financial advisors and their clients are on average Boomers and, as such, not digital natives.
And yet, digital technology is a big success among financial networks, which are in turn a veritable testing ground for remote communication. Three years ago, the lockdown played a key role in this process; however, financial advisors – used to operate offsite – have been the precursors of all innovations.
How can we forget the infamous 80s, when financial advisors and their clients used to flaunt early mobile phones, huge and heavy, alongside oversized jackets and impressive heads of hair.
The key element is that, according to the financial advisors regularly interviewed by FINER, digital technology has contributed to reduce by 75% the time dedicated to administrative tasks and bureaucracy.
For this reason, technology and digital devices are regarded with great interest by the professionals of asset management, as well as banks/financial networks.
According to 66% of financial professionals, each upgrade to the App of a bank/financial network contributes to easing the relationship between client and financial advisor.
In 79% of cases, the bank/financial network involves financial advisors directly when digital interaction procedures between bank, client and advisors are being updated.
State-of-the-art platforms and Apps which allow for the monitoring of the activities of clients through alerts – for instance when it comes to bank transfers or liquid assets on checking accounts – have become veritable digital assistants.
These virtual digital assistants allow to invest time in activities with greater added value: this explains why financial advisors tend to be the most proactive among financial professionals in asset management.
This is a key theme: the more time I manage to dedicate to my clients, the higher their level of satisfaction.
Today more than ever before, contacts with clients occur through all possible channels, i.e., in-person meetings, WhatsApp messages, video calls and phone calls.
The opportunities for contact between financial advisors and their clients have grown by 34% since 2019, thanks to multichannel strategies.
A further incentive will be the employment of Artificial Intelligence, which is currently used to process standard requests such as, for example, the request to increase the plafond of credit cards, a classic of the early summer period.
Through the chronological analysis of requests, informative sets and specific answers are elaborated to maximize the level of satisfaction of clients and reduce the response time.
If we consider that today the average financial advisor is active on more than one front beyond investments, e-money, protection and credit, digital support is a true godsend.
Nicola Ronchetti