The director of marketing and product management at the firm said a new function that allows advisers to email quotes to themselves would be the first of many technology developments aimed at providing a more “joined-up” proposition for users.
Mr Wilson suggested that the firm intends to extend its proposition beyond a quote-and-apply service to help drive protection sales, looking at ways to echo the features used by popular online marketplaces such as Amazon.
He said: “At present, we provide information on products but in an insular way.
“We must create a solution that connects to clients’ wider needs and is better integrated for advisers so it connects to systems that they are already using, such as email and Microsoft word processing.”
Mr Wilson said that the firm was also exploring how to help advisers create a direct-to-consumer infrastructure with elements of an advised service.
He added: “It was widely predicted that small advisers would be killed off by RDR and those left would use consolidated technology from larger providers.
“That has not happened and smaller advisers are increasingly looking at ways to use technology to hold onto clients.”
Heather Barrett, adviser at West Midlands-based HIA International, said: “These changes will hopefully enable us to enhance our straight-through-processing practices and drive increased revenue by getting clients on-risk faster.”
