How do you promote the true value of financial advice? – Part 2

Retro alarm clock concept shows clock that is dissolving away into little particles

By AdviceBridge

If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you’ll know we talk a lot about how you can promote the value of advice to your clients and prospective clients.

As a financial planner, you have true insight into the life-changing effects financial advice can make to your clients’ lives, but conveying this value in a meaningful way can be hard. So, this article looks at how the right technology can help you make cost savings and show clients the true value you can bring to their lives and financial wellbeing.

Start with cashflow modelling

Most advice firms (90%) use cashflow modelling tools, although it may not be used for all clients, particularly smaller ones. Cashflow planning is a good starting point to illustrate to clients their true financial situation in the present, and the years ahead.

This visual aid helps clients engage in their financial plan and engenders trust, which can sometimes be harder with lower value clients The clarity cashflow modelling can bring to a previously confusing situation also helps to strengthen the client/adviser relationship.

AdviceBridge utilises cashflow planning and makes clear what your clients can spend now and receive in retirement. And it works for smaller asset value clients too.

Closing the advice gap

With tools like cashflow modelling at our disposal, we should be able to serve more clients profitably. According to research from Royal London, 41% of advisers have turned clients away or intentionally failed to follow up on enquiries when potential clients don’t have enough money to invest.

There are multiple issues you probably experience in ensuring you do right by your clients, and why you don’t accept everyone as a client.

Concerns are likely to include:

  • Decreased profitability because of the lack of efficiency and speed of processes when servicing clients
  • Cost of employing or outsourcing paraplanners
  • Having to maintain service to smaller value clients, orphan clients, inherited clients, or “tails” of acquired books.

None of us are in business to lose money. But if it was possible to serve traditionally unprofitable clients and make rather than lose money, would we have your attention? If so, read on.

How AdviceBridge helps solves the profitability dilemma

The AdviceBridge platform has been specifically developed to help financial advice firms automate all their processes for new and existing clients.

Complete automation saves you time and money and frees up more time to focus on the advice relationship.

For example, using the platform reduces the time taken to onboard a new client from between 35 and 40 hours to less than 5 hours, even if you’re already using tech solutions.

This time saving translates into an 80% reduction in costs and a 70% increase in profit.

Enhance your client relationships with a system powerful enough to replace you

At the heart of AdviceBridge is an immensely powerful and intelligent advice engine.

The platform collects and analyses all the client data and then delivers the optimum solution. AdviceBridge produces a recommendation report for the client without you having to lift a finger.

While technology isn’t about to replace the human touch so integral to the client/adviser relationship, coming close to being able to deliver advice through technology alone demonstrates the power of the system we’ve created.

Automation is all done by the software. It cuts processes, removes re-keying, and eliminates all the manual time and labour an adviser or paraplanner would spend compiling, analysing, and researching.

In brief, AdviceBridge automates the manual element of various tasks including:

  • The fact-find
  • Research current investments
  • Analysis of wrapper/investment product/tax wrapper solutions
  • The recommendation report.

The automated recommendation report delivers the best solution available to the client, showing exactly how much they will save in terms of fees and tax.

Give your clients access to an intuitive 24/7 interface

We all want access to digital services that make our lives easier. And AdviceBridge delivers here too, with dashboards for you and your clients.

The dashboards show your clients their “safe to spend” amount in retirement and what they can spend now, without the need for you to do full cashflow planning.

The true value of financial advice using AdviceBridge for advisers

AdviceBridge is easy to implement within your business, integrating with existing software and significantly improving your business.

Use the platform to:

  • Automate processes, research, and analysis
  • Identify which wrappers the client should be utilising and automatically update the financial plan
  • Cut the time spent on new clients down from the typical 35-45 hours to 6 hours (including meetings) saving 75% to 85% of the time
  • Increase the level of profitability substantially with smaller clients
  • Run over 1,000 simulations taking into account various tax scenarios and risk at wrapper level and recommend the best structure across your clients’ holdings
  • Attract younger accumulating clients with a remote, digital service.

The true value of financial advice using AdviceBridge for clients

Your clients get their own dashboard, which includes an intuitive and easy to use interface for loading or updating information.

The app helps your clients feel more engaged in their financial future. Clients also benefit from:

  • Simplification with a single figure showing what they can afford to spend now and in retirement on a monthly basis
  • More ways to engage with greater touch points, familiarity, and greater trust with you, their adviser
  • A goals based tool, which lets them see how altering their finances will affect them now and in retirement
  • The ability to update information 24/7 (and alert you of changes in their financial circumstances)
  • Allows clients with less disposable income or assets to invest to start getting expert advice from a professional planner sooner.

Get in touch

If you want to know more about how you can use the AdviceBridge technology to improve efficiency and open up new revenue streams while turning unprofitable clients into engaged profitable relationships, email hello@advicebridge.com or call us on 020 3925 3850.