Mobile provides a more connected way of doing business that is proving highly attractive to wealth management firms. In today’s digital world, clients want to be more involved in the decision making process and have access to real-time information, which means having a “mobile first” strategy is becoming the new “must have.” Advisors are expected to be easily contactable and flexible enough to visit clients, wherever and whenever they choose, and be at the cutting edge of upcoming trends.
Over the last 18 months I’ve seen a big shift in wealth management firms prioritizing advisor tools alongside significant investments in enabling mobility. But being mobile is not all about interface design. The reality is that roughly only 15 percent of the capability of the advisor desktop makes sense for an advisor mobile tool. The skill lies in knowing which features and functionality are best to enhance productivity and outcomes.
Understanding how to optimize the potential of mobile to enrich the client experience is achieved by expanding beyond core offerings—and choosing the right application architecture options to deliver them. Wealth management firms need to select an overall solution architecture that takes into account backend systems and connective technologies, as well as the operating environment and interface. Consideration must be given not only to cost and technical complexities, but also what will have the greatest impact from a user experience design perspective.
Mobile technologies can add value for wealth management businesses by offering:
- Client experience and customer relationship management: Client lookup to enable context sharing between functions and notes input, along with a detailed calendar view, enables advisors more flexibility to respond to clients on the go. Advisors can keep in-sync with their clients and their requests through alerts and notifications.
- Financial planning tools: Provide interactive tools for advisors to work with clients and explore multiple financial scenarios and opportunities, either face-to-face or through virtual channels.
- Collaboration tools: Whether through phone integration, document sharing, or secure screen sharing to enhance efficiency, advisors can claim back more time to focus on prospecting, discovery and client onboarding.
- Advisor knowledge: Empower advisors with real-time news feeds or use analytics to push client insights and market information.
For those wealth management firms who have not yet embraced the mobile world, it’s time to catch-up and invest in the power of mobility.
Interested in this topic? Then contact me, Kendra Thompson.