Business at a distance
Whilst for many, financial advice is still thankfully a face-to-face people business involving meetings at an office or at the client’s home, there is quite a lot of business already transacted almost entirely by telephone and emails.
It will be a difficult time for those advisers who thrive on the personal meeting and the relationship building of the regular face-to- face meeting. But I wonder whether even these advisers will see the advantages of some communication being done electronically.
The new world
It may well be that this time of enforced isolation will lead to changes in the way we interact in the future. It will certainly lead many business to review the way they work and how they communicate with their clients. The realisation of how much time we have all spent travelling or how much stationery is wasted producing paper copies of literature and documents. It is likely to see increased uses of technology to streamline operations. Perhaps accepting instructions by email, accepting pf copies of original documents, using electronic signature software, cloudbased CRMs and portals.
Whilst the increased use of technology may change some practices, I still believe that there will be a high demand for face-to-face financial planning advice.
We live in interesting times.
Stay Safe
Be Kind whenever possible. It is always possible
About Tony Catt
Formerly an adviser himself, Tony Catt is a freelance compliance consultant, undertaking a whole range of compliance duties for professional advisers.
Contact Tony info@tonycatt. co.uk or call 07899 847338
