Technology has never played as crucial a role in the day-to-day running of a business as it does currently in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent webinar, Nic da Silva, distribution development specialist at Allan Gray, and WealthUp co-founder, Louis van der Merwe, discussed how financial advisers can use technology to deliver a better client experience. Watch the 32-minute webinar recording for tips on how to embrace technology in your advice business.
We all have varying levels of comfort when it comes to technology. In recent months, however, many of us have been pushed beyond our comfort zones, as we’ve had to navigate a new way of staying connected with clients – predominantly through technology.
Over the past 18 months, the Allan Gray Distribution Development and Online teams have been hard at work, advancing functionalities to Allan Gray Online that are geared towards helping you leverage technology, to run a more efficient and paperless advisory practice. Our releases have been deliberately staggered to give you time to get accustomed to the changes and provide us with feedback.
One of our latest enhancements is the digital client approval feature, which enables you to submit instructions, upload unsigned forms and send these to clients for digital approval. It eliminates the need for a printer, scanner and chasing up clients for outstanding documents, as clients can now authorise instructions through a secure two-tier authentication process via email and mobile number verification instead of a signature.
Speaking during Allan Gray’s recent webinar, Embracing technology as an enabler for your advice business, van der Merwe acknowledged that getting client buy-in to technology-related system changes can be challenging. He suggested that this challenge can be overcome by building solid relationships with your clients and introducing new solutions at a gradual pace.
“The relationships in your business should be ahead of the software. It’s easy to bring in new software, but that change can be daunting for a lot of people and not everyone gets excited about change. So bring in smaller pieces [of technology] at a pace that you’re comfortable with. Start experimenting with it, create that better client journey,” he urged advisers.
For more insights, watch the full webinar recording below.