Beyond Zoom: Continuing The Technology Journey

Platforms and apps, software and systems — a dizzying array of technology solutions promises to make advisors more efficient, make carriers more responsive, and ultimately make clients happier.

But how do you determine what technology is useful and what is simply the next shiny object? And how do you get started using technology or, if you already have incorporated tech into your practice, how do you take the next step?

As the virtual practice becomes less of a novelty and more of a necessity, and as many advisors are ready to move beyond Zoom meetings into a more robust use of technology, it can be confusing to figure out what to add.

“Before you adopt any technology, you need to have a business plan and that business plan needs to have a technology section,” said Rodney Mogen, brokerage director with MassMutual Financial Group in San Antonio, Texas, and chief puzzle solver at Solve Ur Puzzles.

“You need to know what you’re going to use technology for, how you’re going to use it, how much money you’re going to apply to it. You don’t need to add technology today. You can do it over a two-year, three-year, four-year period. But you need to have a process. You need to have a system, and you need to think about it.”

Mogen advised giving yourself time to learn what is the best solution for you and your clients. 

“There are probably 5,000 pieces of technology that can be used, but there are different types of advisors and different types of advisors have different types of compliance requirements. So that will narrow down what you can use,” he said. “But the other thing you need to look at is, what is the advisor doing? What segments of their practice are they looking to bring technology to?”

Mogen listed these four practice segments that lend themselves to technology:

1. Marketing and branding, or what he calls “telling a story.” 

2. Prospecting and creating prospects.

3. Sales.

4. Customer relationship management.

“For me, technology is all about making things simpler, reducing paper, and making sure that my team can have access to information so they know exactly what we talked about with the client,” he said.

But although Mogen has incorporated a variety of tech tools into his practice, he said his practice did not become technologically heavy overnight.

“It took about eight years to get to the point where I am now,” he said. “We started with a CRM system, and I went through 19 of them until I found one that I liked and could integrate with different things and that met all the requirements of my compliance department. 

“Picking and choosing what works best for us has been trial and error. It was easier for me to just plug and play and see whether something worked for us.”

Working For All The Stakeholders

Mogen said that if he were to start a practice today, he would begin the technology journey by making sure tools work for all the stakeholders. He would begin with asking his staff what they need. “And I would talk to someone at my home office to see about how we can interface with what they use,” he said.

He has a digital assistant in his practice, so using the kind of technology that the assistant also can adopt into their workflow is crucial. 

And then there is the client.

“Some of the tools we used previously were a horrible interface for the client, and clients hated them,” he said. “Well, the client is the ultimate person in all of this, so if the client can’t open a document, for example, this isn’t going to work.”

Many of Mogen’s clients are millennials, who he said expect to conduct business digitally.

“They don’t want to come to an office. They want to do business on FaceTime, they want to do business while they’re in their RV,” he said. “I just had a meeting where my client was on their boat sailing up the Potomac River for the winter. That kind of stuff wouldn’t have happened 20 years ago. But it happens now. So you have to be flexible.”

It’s not only that tech-savvy clients want to meet virtually. They don’t even want to use a computer, Mogen said.

“When you send the client something electronically, you have to make sure it can be opened on a phone because 90% of millennials don’t do things on their computers — they do them on their phones.”

He cited an example in which a client had difficulty using DocuSign on their phone, so a solution had to be found.

Although Mogen said his clients are on board with doing business digitally, not all of them want to do business the same way. So he gives them options.

“All of my first meetings with clients are digital — just because we can do more that way,” he said. “But one of the first things I do in that first meeting is ask clients, ‘How do you want me to connect with you? How do you want to have meetings?’ And I also ask them in our annual meetings. Some clients want to be more face-to-face.”  

Part Of The Process

Technology only works when it is part of your process, said Angela Silbernagel, director of mission expansion with Real Wealth Marketing, Kewaskum, Wis.

“It’s not necessarily the technology but how you use that technology,” she said. “If you don’t make your new app or your new software into a part of your checklist or process, you’re wasting your money because you’re not using it efficiently, you’re not using it to its full potential. Or maybe you already have something that can do what that technology does, but you didn’t know it because you’re just chasing after stuff that looks cool or sounds great. So it’s not practical unless you work it into something that’s already a rock-solid process.”

“Start simple, get fancy later” is Silbernagel’s advice where technology is concerned. A scheduling tool is one example of that.

“If the technology costs you $10 a month and you previously spent hours going back and forth playing phone tag trying to get something scheduled, it’s really a no-brainer to start using something like that,” she said.

After the scheduling tool is in place, the advisor then can use it to send out automated reminders to clients or different messages to prospects, she said. The scheduling tool also can be incorporated into GoToMeeting or Zoom to schedule the online meeting and send out materials for clients and prospects to review prior to the meeting.

Advisors shouldn’t go it alone when incorporating their technology, but instead should work with an IT partner, Silbernagel recommended. 

“One, it’s nice to have someone you can call when the internet goes out,” she said. “But there’s also the security aspect. An IT partner makes sure that we’re doing security checks, we’re preventing data breaches as well as detecting them. We in the financial industry are targets. We have money and clients’ Social Security numbers and all types of personal information. It’s in the best interest of our clients that we are super secure.

“So it’s important that if you’re looking at technology, make sure that you’re using it compliantly, but also securely.”

Pathway Of Opportunity

COVID-19 restrictions forced many carriers to ramp up their digital offeringsm and now the industry faces what Jim Quinn calls a “pathway of opportunity.” Quinn is chief technology and information officer with the Insured Retirement Institute.

“For digital solutions, we’ve proven that both advisors and customers can use technology,” he said. “I think the past two years have proven that meetings and transactions can successfully be performed virtually. But I also think there has been a paradigm shift where we have to focus on the customer and the need — not just thinking about the transaction. You have to do it on the customer’s terms.”

Digital solutions must be integrated with strong oversight tools to meet compliance and regulatory requirements, Quinn said. “I think technology can deliver that full end-to-end need with end-to-end solutions.”

Quinn called for more technology platforms that are fully integrated to create a smoother customer experience. 

“When you think of the technology that’s out there, you have different platforms that provide tools for inventorying your assets, setting your retirement goals, analyzing your investment risks and building your investment portfolios. The winners will be those who can do everything — or even if they don’t build everything, they can integrate all of that together.

“So you have CRM systems but they have to integrate with financial planning software. And then it has to integrate with the home office, back office and supervisory oversight so you have this seamless end-to-end process.”

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].