82% of consumers want an “immediate” digital response. Can your firm provide this?

A person sits at a laptop holding a smartphone. A graphic of a chatbot and speech bubbles is overlayed.

By AdviceBridge

Consumer expectations are developing at lightning speed. Not only do they want quality service, but they also want it to be bespoke to their needs and they want to be able to access it in a millisecond. 

Research by Hubspot shows that 82% of consumers find it important to receive an immediate response to a question about sales or marketing. The majority of these consumers consider “immediate” to mean 10 minutes or less. 

As a result, advisers need to seriously up their game if they’re to meet the increasing demands of consumers and emerge as winners in the industry over the coming years. 

So how do you know if your firm is ready for this significant change in the advice industry? Read on to find out. 

Consumers want to know how much income they can expect in their retirement 

When it comes to retirement planning, of course, the big question for every client you serve will be “how much income can I expect in my retirement?”. The answer to this question will inform how they manage their money today and the plans they make for their post-work years. 

So, imagine their frustration when, rather than being able to get a straightforward answer, they must go through a maze of complicated questionnaires and admin – not to mention paying a large fee – before they can even receive an initial estimate. 

While some consumers will prefer to sit down face-to-face with their adviser to discuss their needs, an increasing number of clients are looking for digital solutions. 

They want a fast, personalised service that can give them a glimpse into their financial future, and they want to know that they’re getting value for the fees they pay to access that knowledge. This is the future of the advice industry, and if your firm is to thrive, you’d do well to follow the example of the major video streaming services. 

Services like Netflix, Amazon Video, and Disney+ are all offering their customers a hyper-personalised experience as standard. They’re constantly learning what the customer likes to watch and instantly recommending similar items that they’re likely to enjoy based on that data. 

In some cases, they’re even learning what type of thumbnail the customer is most likely to click on and amending how they present the recommended titles. What’s more, they’re finding increasingly innovative ways to offer this extraordinary service for the most competitive price.  

With so many competing demands, it can be hard to know where to start. That’s why we designed the AdviceBridge platform to be your technological ally, turning your advisers into financial superheroes. 

5 ways AdviceBridge helps you to meet evolving consumer demands 

To keep up with the ever-changing landscape of consumer wants and needs, investing in the right system is vital. Here are five ways the AdviceBridge platform can help you to stay ahead of the curve and emerge as a leader in your industry. 

1. Fast, effective data collection 

To be able to provide accurate advice to your clients, fast, effective, compliant data collection will be crucial. The AdviceBridge platform makes this a breeze, automatically sending the required data to your clients and distributing the information required to the right team instantly. 

Not only does this allow the right people to access the right information, but it also speeds up the onboarding process for new clients. This means your advisers can dispense their advice much more quickly, giving customers exactly what they’re looking for. 

2. An easy-to-use, integrated system 

With so many different priorities going on at once, you need an online system that works for you rather than against you. 

Chances are, over the years, you’ve invested in a myriad of different solutions, each solving one problem. Over time, they begin to get muddled, until your staff are having to log in to multiple different systems at once just to perform basic tasks. 

The AdviceBridge platform allows you to interact with just one dashboard that meets all your needs. It integrates with your back-office system, making it cost-effective, time-saving, and easy to use. 

What’s more, with the inclusion of the AdviceBridge app, your clients can be connected to their data and their financial plan 24/7. This allows them to instantly interact and review what they can expect from their plan, running scenarios, seeing how this may affect their retirement income and advising what they can spend this month. 

3. Remove financial barriers to advice

When you automate the repetitive admin tasks that often take advisers many hours to complete, the time cost saving to the business means that you can offer your retirement planning services at a more accessible price point. 

This means that you can serve more clients, helping those with a smaller budget to access good value advice that will genuinely help them to plan for the future. Not only will this keep up with consumer demand for good value advice, but it also allows you to comply with the Consumer Duty regulations that many firms may find challenging.

4. Free up advisers’ time 

With AdviceBridge taking care of the repetitive admin tasks such as re-keying, copying and pasting, and preparing reports that your advisers currently spend hours on, they are freed up to spend more time speaking to and serving your clients. 

The relationship between client and adviser is critical for the delivery of quality financial advice that truly meets the client’s needs and allows them to feel confident in their future. When advisers can spend more time building this rapport, it enables them to offer more of a coaching and support role, improving clients’ financial wellbeing now and in the future.

5. Train your team for success 

With such a seismic change to the advice industry already on its way, your team is going to need to learn a host of new skills to keep up. 

Luckily, using the AdviceBridge system is intuitive and one area where training will be straightforward. The AdviceBridge team can help to coach your staff in the use of the systems that deliver these incredible results, and you can even try out some of the functionality before you purchase to ensure it’s the right software for your firm. 

Get in touch

If you’d like to learn more about how the AdviceBridge platform could benefit your firm and help you to stay ahead of the curve in the changing advice landscape, please get in touch. Email hello@advicebridge.com, book a demo, or call us on 020 3925 3850.