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Although 2020 reminded us that it’s hard to predict things, you can be sure that online meetings will evolve in 2021. These changes will affect how you conduct business if you want to continue to create maximum client value next year.
Factors driving change
There are many reasons online meetings will evolve in 2021. However, you can put them into three buckets, based on client need: The need for information, for security, and for connection. Clients continuously want more and better information, handled more securely, by people they trust.
These have always been dominant client needs. Now clients expect these needs to be met in an online meeting. Online meetings aren’t there yet. They will need to evolve in 2021 to keep pace with client expectation.
How will online meetings evolve in 2021?
Security will improve
The massive jump in online meeting prominence put security in the spotlight, and for the most part, the platforms responded. We went from “Zoom bombing” in March to negotiating multiple layers of security just to start our own meeting! And as clients do more business online, meeting platforms fight the hackers to keep meetings secure.
Online meeting platform security will get better. Platforms will add capabilities that satisfy regulatory requirements around saving and sharing information. You can reassure your clients that it’s okay to share screens and information in this environment.
Compliance will embrace “digital alternatives” to the legal pad
This year, firms have been forced to confront the fact their policy around what can happen online doesn’t fit reality. Compliance has been reluctant to embrace the white board in Zoom as the digital equivalent of the legal pad. Another tough one for compliance: annotating PDFs online. You couldn’t do that in person, and it’s taking time for compliance to realize now is different.
Look for compliance departments to announce new guidance permitting more annotating, whiteboarding, and use of tools that represent a “digital equivalent” to in-person meetings.
Discovery meetings with prospects will stay online
Clients have realized that some meetings are better online – particularly initial meetings that may lead to future business. At work, clients are interviewing suppliers and job candidates online. At home, they’re going on video dates before in-person dates. It’s more efficient and you can always meet in person if the initial interview goes well. Why would it be different for choosing a new financial advisor?
Expect more of your initial meetings with prospects to resemble video dates.
Expectations for professionalism will rise
Between March and November of this year, I delivered dozens of online workshops to almost 5,000 advisors. And in that short time, I saw an amazing difference in the prevalence of webcams, the quality of lighting and the positioning of cameras in my audience. Some of this stemmed from watching TV shows– my participants brought a lot of their equipment with them!
Even more importantly, I’ve seen (and tried to coach!) an evolution in the way advisors manage information and present ideas. Visuals are getting cleaner, simpler, and more organized, and clients are responding favorably.
The bar will continue to rise for what constitutes a “quality” online experience. Online meetings will evolve to a higher standard of production and professionalism.
Online and on-demand seminars will become the norm
When in-person meetings were forced online, it revealed a stark difference in seminar value for advisors and clients. While advisors get tremendous value (and efficiency) out of a captive, in-person audience, clients have enjoyed the freedom and flexibility of tuning in from their homes for as long as they want…or watching the recording later.
All the previous factors I’ve mentioned contribute to this new norm – platforms, productions, and performances are better, so online seminars are becoming more valuable for clients. Why would they eat hotel chicken dinner when they can order in?
The proportion of client seminars happening online will continue to grow due to client demand.
Expect more change in 2021
Online meetings will evolve in 2021 as client needs drive changes to both platforms and business norms. While that evolution may not be as significant as the transformation we’ve seen this year, smart advisors will invest in technology and skills that keep them on the forefront of this evolution.
Dan Smaida is founder and curator of the AdvisoryEDGE Forum (www.AdvisoryEDGE.com), a resource center for financial advisors. Email dan at [email protected]
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
