Mobility For Financial Advisors: Show, Don’t Tell And Get More Business

Smartphones and Tablets, powered with apps, are transforming the way financial advisors do business and engage with their clients. The advisors, these days, are snapping up mobile devices as they hit the roads.

Take the case of Mr. Bryne, an advisor with a leading company in Dallas. He swears by his iPad for work. He uses his sleek device to run presentations, showcase benefit illustration of various investment products pulling tools available in his iPad, takes notes and even executes trades from the client’s place using his firm’s recently developed app. His clients use a similar mobile app to keep track of their investments and get anywhere, anytime access to their portfolio.

Bryne says “I’m able to meet more clients in a day, better respond to their queries and provide a clear and concise view of their investments. The difference is clearly visible. I’m connected with my office all the day and can work while travelling or waiting for the client. And I’m travelling light these days.”

Client engagement is changing

A financial advisor arrives at a client’s place lugging an overstuffed suitcase. After exchanging pleasantries, they get down to discuss the client’s investments. The advisor takes out a stack of printouts and pulls her laptop. While waiting for his laptop to start, she glances over the printouts to realize that these are not updated with the latest product information and performance results. She then gets to her laptop to access various data and information and finally starts her presentation. By then 15 of 30 minutes appointment is already over and she now runs down her presentation quickly leaving the client unimpressed. This incident would have been a normal experience a few years back. But, in the current real-time information driven environment, it’s a threat to survival. And a reason enough to loose clients.

Mobile’s competitive edge

With better informed but time starved clients, customized presentations packed with valuable information are important to win their trust and business. The client engagement experience has become a key differentiators and mobile devices are offering the solution. Today, advisors armed with Tablets and access to latest data and digital assets like videos, online assessment tools, graphics and ROI calculators, are engaging more productively with clients and offering them superior services. Moreover, mobile devices are also helping them get more productive by automating various administrative paper-based works, upgrade their skills by accessing training videos and reference materials and help them be updated through real-time access to research insights and news. More and more financial firms are leveraging mobile solutions to give a competitive edge to their advisors.

There’s an app for that

From data visualizations, analytics, retirement planners, paperless document transfer with digital signatures, remote access to PC to trading platforms- there are hundreds of apps available for financial advisers. And, slowly yet steadily, investment firms too are joining the bandwagon with their custom in-house apps that provide a wealth of information to their clients as well as allow financial advisers to access all critical data from their device. And, as advisors are on the road, meeting clients they keep getting notifications and alerts which help them take necessary action on-the-fly and better manage their client’s account.

Mobile is Essential

The benefits of using Tablets and mobile apps are clear. With client expectations changing and shifts in the industry, the way financial advisors relate with their clients and do business is no longer the same. Financial advisors, wherever they work, have to quickly adapt to the changing scenarios. Mobile has become a necessity for future success in the industry. It’s time financial advisory firms leverage mobility to ensure superior client service than ever before.