There has never been a better time to be a planner and we are about to embark on a new era of innovation in service that is going to place the future of advice firmly with a new breed of professional. This future does not lie in the hands of regulators, nor is it dependent on investment markets or financial product manufacturers.
In the famous words of Alan Kay, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it”. So join with me as we invent it together, for the sake of our profession, our clients and ourselves.
The age of Social Business, or in our case what I like to call ‘Social Advice’, is dawning – but it isn’t about social media (although it will certainly play a part). Social Advice is about a new way of doing business, where we shift perspective, remove artificial constraints that are out-dated, and truly innovate the ways in which we manage relationships with our clients.
In this column over the coming months, I will be bringing you the latest in research on client decision-making, with a focus on how to apply brand new technologies and strategies to deliver more to your clients and become much more efficient in the process.
I will be relentless in exposing the huge amount of false information that is out there: testing new ideas and theories, and showcasing to you what the new leaders in your profession are doing, so that you too can be inspired to lead the way.
Word of mouth and referrals are still the cornerstones of growing an advice-based business, however, the way our clients communicate and where they look for the validation of their decisions is completely changing. Conventional planners who are ignoring leveraged communication media are quickly becoming far less competitive, and their ability to maintain relevance in the services that they provide to clients will be eroded very quickly over the next few years.
Funnily enough, we are finding that this new revolution is much easier to embrace by the ‘old hats’ of the profession, as their years of experience and highly developed people skills, can be so easily applied to new media and new technology. Myths like, “Social media is for younger clients and younger planners”, is something I will disprove, as often understanding the technical aspects of the technology means completely ‘missing the forest for the trees’.
Over this short period of time, we are also going to see a more rapid transition of leadership in our profession, as the entrenched firms clinging to old paradigms, who are ignoring this groundswell of innovation in the planning profession, are quickly overtaken by those who are more nimble and willing to adapt.
The exciting part is that the financial planners who make use of these new tools at their disposal will be able to reach the whole of the Australian population with their own message. But remember, it shouldn’t be one that is technical; it should be one that conveys the value of advice and the value of true relationships. The planning community will no longer be beholden to the traditional press or their control over perception.
The next evolution of our industry will be far more collaborative, because we now also have the means to share ideas and collaborate in real time; we are no longer limited by licensee borders, employment status or product volume classifications. If you want to be among the leaders of your profession in this new dawning, then it is imperative you share with others who are leading the charge … innovation breeds innovation.
Welcome to the future of advice – it is in your hands and I look forward to bringing you the ideas, tools and stories to empower your journey.