Advisers’ top 3 fears for adopting technology and how to overcome them
By AdviceBridge
The number of advisers adopting new technology has stalled. According to a report in MoneyMarketing, NextWealth’s Adviser Tech Stack Report “found that an increasing number of advisers have delayed adopting new technology for their businesses”.
3 key reasons why advisers are hesitant to adopt technology
The report identified three key reasons why advisers are hesitant to adopt technology:
- Risk of something going wrong
- A compelling lack of alternatives to justify taking risks
- Many advisers being too busy managing their businesses.
In response to the findings, Heather Hopkins, managing director at NextWealth, said: “After the frenzy of tech change due to the pandemic, our data suggest we are seeing a hiatus, with just 13% of financial advice professionals saying they plan to make specific changes to their tech stack in the next 12 months.”
So, in light of this report, how can you overcome your hesitations and, instead, embrace the idea of adopting technology and improve your business in the process?
Let’s break it down and address each problem in turn.
Overcoming #1: Risk of something going wrong
Fear of change is no new concept. Our brains are engineered to protect and keep us safe.
Cavemen knew that to stay alive they had to keep themselves safe. The fight or flight instinct helped to tell them when to run for safety. They also learned that to survive they must evolve to protect themselves further. So, they built shelter, made tools, and adopted clothing to keep themselves and their families safe.
Following the technology revolution, if you don’t change, adapt and evolve you risk the very real possibility of extinction.
Look to Kodak as just one cautionary tale: When cameras went digital, Kodak were too slow to respond. Digital cameras began to enter the market in the 1980s, but it was 1991 before Kodak entered the digital space.
Once a giant in the photography industry, after being at the forefront of photography for almost a century, Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012 because they were too slow to change and adapt to the market. Others include Blockbuster, Xerox, Blackberry, and HMV.
In a fast-changing world, if you fail to keep up with digital changes because fear is holding you back, your business will struggle to survive.
Overcoming #2: A compelling lack of alternatives to justify taking risks
If this is the fear that’s preventing you from adopting technology, why not create your own? Or, if that’s not feasible, is it just a story you tell yourself to avoid having to think about actually embracing change?
There’s no denying the fact that technology can be a minefield if you don’t know what you need or how to implement it. It’s all too easy to get it wrong and can be difficult to resolve.
If the truth is that you haven’t got the time to research and decide between the offerings available, find someone with the knowledge and time to help you figure things out.
To find a trusted technology expert, start by asking your peers if they know anyone they’d recommend. Many IT specialists work on a freelance basis, which means that you can outsource the problem and take advantage of someone’s expertise without having to employ them full-time.
They will ensure that everything is connected, linked, and works while creating a seamless and smooth transition for you, your employees, and crucially, your clients.
Finding the right solution for your business may take a little time, and you may need expert advice but, done well, it will translate into increased productivity, efficiency, and profit.
Overcoming #3: Many advisers being too busy managing their businesses.
If you embrace the idea of recruiting help to introduce technology to your advice firm, the amount of time you’ll need to spend managing things should be, well, manageable.
The right IT specialist will have a team on hand to support you before, during and after your transition to a great tech solution.
A remote but attentive team will be able to mitigate risks, execute the implementation and keep your new systems running smoothly in the future.
Remember, in the long run, technology is designed to make life easier. So, with the right digital solutions in place to support you and your clients, the time you spend running your business will ultimately generate more profit for your firm.
For example, AdviceBridge will free up more of your time by digitising many of the manual, time-consuming processes, engaging your clients through its simple and meaningful interface while enabling you to focus on the relationship and not admin, research or reports.
Through automation, the platform enables you to effortlessly deliver compliant-ready financial plans to a far wider range of clients profitably. The system helps gather information, analyse what is held and how it should be structured before it automatically produces a recommendation report ready to present to your client.
Crucially, through seamless integration with other elements of your business technology, AdviceBridge frees up more of your time to focus on the all-important client relationship.
2 areas that could prove compelling in mobilising advisers to make changes
According to NextWealth, ongoing client interaction and integration with back-office systems are two significant areas that could prove compelling in mobilising advisers to overcome potential fear and make changes.
Hopkins said: “We see integration – specifically the lack of it – come up in all our reports so any tech provider that really cracks this is going to be onto a winner.”
Providers who can deliver “easy-to-use tech channels that allow advisers to have a more dynamic, digitally-enhanced relationship with their clients” will help to open the way to new business.
This is exactly where AdviceBridge delivers.
AdviceBridge helps you to easily enhance your service offering
The AdviceBridge platform is designed to help your clients to feel more engaged with their financial futures by making it easier and more interesting to see everything laid out clearly.
The engaging client-facing app allows your clients to interact with their financial plan 24/7. The built-in alert system will let you know when a change in circumstances necessitates intervention, allowing you to step in with on-point, timely advice.
On top of the client advantage, by digitising a lot of time-consuming and mundane tasks, AdviceBridge allows you to spend significantly more time getting to know your clients.
This face-to-face conversation alongside state-of-the-art technology will allow you to strengthen existing relationships for the long term.
Get in touch
To find out how AdviceBridge can benefit your business and help you service more clients profitably, please get in touch. Email hello@advicebridge.com, book a demo, or call us on 020 3925 3850.
