"This is a shift that is unlikely to be reversed in the future as both advisers and clients clearly acknowledge the benefits of embracing technology into their lives."
The poll of over 260 advisers ranging from protection advisers to mortgage intermediaries found that despite the abolition of all Covid restrictions in the UK, the trend for digital meet-ups with clients is one that looks set to continue in the months ahead. Two-thirds (67%) of advisers stated that they will conduct over 50% of their client meetings virtually in 2022, while 22% said that they will carry out 100% of all client meetings online.
The trend for virtual meetings has also led to a growing appetite from advisers for graphical tools that helps them to convey information with a shared screen with a client; the poll found that 86% of advisers agreed that graphical tools were important for this reason with 32% stating it was “extremely important” and a further 31% “very important”.
However, one in 10 advisers (10%) state they do not use any graphical tools to convey information to their clients during virtual meetings.
Alan Lakey, director at CIExpert, said: “The pandemic has accelerated the shift to embrace digital and virtual communications and this has been evident among how advisers interact with their clients. What is now apparent is that this is a shift that is unlikely to be reversed in the future as both advisers and clients clearly acknowledge the benefits of embracing technology into their lives.
“The CIExpert Adviser Watch, plus anecdotal evidence that we hear from the 1,000s of advisers we work with, tell us that as advisers are having far more virtual interactions with their clients, the opportunity to share their screen, leverage graphical tools and talk through the options available to them in order to present the rationale for their recommendations is absolutely crucial.”
