Eddie Grant: Client relationships have become more efficient down electric avenue

It's been discussed many times that a positive consequence of the past few months in lockdown has been that people have had time to consider their priorities, think about their future and, as part of this, plan their finances.

The general feeling of uncertainty and the long road to economic recovery has led to people seeking reassurance and guidance through expert financial advice, and the importance of regular contact and a close relationship with a financial planner has been highlighted as a result.

Yet, this contact and relationship has been forced to change. Advisers haven't been able to meet clients in their homes or offices, haven't been able to sit down together and discuss their options in person and haven't been able to rifle through paperwork together as has been the way for many years.

However, change can be a good thing, and advisers and clients alike have reaped the benefits of this. Due to social distancing restrictions, technology has been catapulted to the forefront of these relationships and it's proving to be a force for good.

Using DocuSign, 48% of documents are being returned from clients within an hour, and 76% within a day, proving it's highly effective and clients are embracing it. Meetings are still being conducted but now through Zoom, Skype, FaceTime or similar tools. In many cases, personal relationships have strengthened, with Covid-19 acting as a means of bonding rather than distancing people.

Clients and advisers who would not have considered video calling previously have experimented and discovered that it is actually a very effective way to keep in touch. Indeed, recent research conducted for St. James's Place by Boring Money found that, since Covid-19, nearly two-thirds (63%) of advised clients say they feel more positive about video calls as a way of communicating with their adviser than they did before. Given this was a rarity before lockdown, that's a significant shift in attitude. Technology is being viewed as a way to complement rather than complicate financial conversations.

The video element has been especially important. This still allows face-to-face contact, which has always been key to helping relationships develop. Our research shows that people value a personal relationship with their adviser as it helps to reassure them that the advice they're receiving is focused on their individual needs, preferences and financial history.

Removing the shackles in the industry

The use of technology has had other benefits in the financial advice profession too. It's allowed the frequency of contact to increase, with advisers reporting that they can now have more, shorter meetings without losing time to travel, removing the geographic shackles so that trusted adviser relationships can continue uninterrupted across the whole of the UK.

The concept of screen sharing has also enabled a more engaged conversation. Clients feel part of the action. They can see what's happening just as if they were with their adviser in person. Further, we've found that our clients are wholeheartedly embracing paperless correspondence, which can only have a positive impact on the environment.

Uniting generations

As most of us will have experienced through lockdown quizzes over the last few months, video conferencing has also allowed family gatherings to happen more easily. This means wealth meetings have taken place with various generations coming together to participate. This is a great sign that real intergenerational planning conversations, facilitated by a financial planner, are happening. This is a fantastic step for the future as these discussions become increasingly important, with family structures more complex than ever before and life expectancy growing.

Life after Covid-19

Life after Covid-19 still remains unknown. Many things will return to the way they were before, many things will not. Before the crisis, the pace of change was steady within the financial advice profession, but we've shown that we can cope with accelerated change, and we can still deliver a valuable service delivering better client outcomes.

I do believe this has been a positive consequence of a devastating crisis and I'm optimistic that the client-adviser relationship will be even stronger because of it.

Eddie Grant is director of Technical Connection and a Chartered financial planner at St James's Place

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