Your IndustryJul 1 2021

Should client meetings remain online after lockdown?

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Should client meetings remain online after lockdown?
Credit: EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA from Pexels

Fast forward 12 months, many clients have embraced remote advice. A March survey of almost 1,000 clients by Quilter Private Client Advisers found 47 per cent would prefer remote advice.

The take-up of video calls amid restrictions on physical meetings has also become an opportunity for some to reach new clients further afield.

But with so-called ‘freedom day’ in England currently scheduled for July 19 – marking the final stage of lockdown easing – will clients expect in-person meetings to become the default once more?

Client choice

David Ryder, head of proposition at Paradigm Consulting, highlights the importance of providing choice to clients.

Ryder says: “For example, certain clients may place a strong emotional value on the money they are looking to invest – this could be an inheritance, for example – and such clients may value due attention from their adviser, which may be delivered more effectively face to face.”

He adds: “There is a school of thought currently that adviser firms who do not offer a remote advice service may not appear as flexible or understanding of a client’s needs and therefore could lose advantage in the advice marketplace.”

Expectations over service via video calls may also go beyond ‘making the best of it’ when lockdown ends. Paul Young, head of business consultancy at Quilter Financial Planning, warns care needs to be taken that digital is not seen as the “poor cousin" of advice.

Young says: “While in-person advice will still continue to be key, it will be increasingly important that advisers develop the skills needed to build the same level of trust with new clients in a remote or hybrid environment, effectively making it feel face to face.”

An example of how this can be achieved is the adviser sending a biography with a headshot to the client before meeting, according to Young.

He adds: “If using headphones, explain why. For example, ‘I want to reassure you that no one else can hear our chat’. Or if not, again explain why, eg. 'I want to try to make this meeting as ‘in-person’ as possible, but rest assured no one can hear us at my end – is that the same for you at your end?’”

Not for everyone

But Paradigm Consulting’s Ryder warns a hybrid version may not work for all companies: “Careful consideration needs to be given to a firm’s client-bank demographic and the advice lines they are involved in.

“Evidence suggests that mortgage and protection advice, due to often being transactional in nature, is more likely to be acceptable to clients as a remote service.”

In May, brokerage Just Mortgages said it would give advisers with at least two years’ experience the option to work from home even when lockdown ends.

John Phillips, national operations director at Just Mortgages and Spicerhaart, says: “The main concerns around a remote workforce is the loss of teamwork and quick and easy office communication. This is not a huge issue for brokers, a lot of whom are used to working as lone wolves.”

But continuing to hold remote meetings post-lockdown brings potential benefits for both advisers and clients.

Quilter’s Young says: “Stripping out the need to travel gives advisers and clients multiple hours back in the day, as well as helping provide some ‘green’ credentials. These hours may be utilised to provide more advice, upskill or simply to give a better work/life balance.”

Incorporating client feedback

Paradigm Consulting’s Ryder adds that busy clients may welcome the chance not to have to host advisers, or travel to meetings, if a secure and trustworthy remote alternative is available.

In August, financial planner Fairstone launched a remote advice process, known as ‘ZETO’, powered by Microsoft Teams.

Fairstone’s CEO, Lee Hartley, says: “Through ZETO, the ability to screen share, transfer files, execute documents and use illustration in real-time, as well as a two-factor e-sign capability, means that the solution supports client consultations in a secure, fully featured manner.

“When we were developing ZETO we liaised with our clients and advisers, and their feedback was fed into the process. The reaction we have had to date on our ZETO process has been overwhelmingly positive, and the majority of our clients who favour remote advice said that it took less time, was easier to fit into the day and has a positive impact on the environment as it did not involve travel.”

Quilter’s Young also advises on the importance of consulting with clients on the future of a hybrid model: “Take care not simply to ask what the client wants or prefers but ask them how they have found the process during Covid, and how might they see it working going forward.”

While lockdown has caused many to realise the benefits of remote working, Claire Campbell, programme director at flexible working consultancy Timewise, suggests the trend could reverse.

Campbell says: “You may find that currently the preference is to keep many meetings remote, but over time, people are more open to travelling again. So I would keep this a frequent conversation.”

Chloe Cheung is a features writer at FTAdviser