Why you need to think like a technology company

It is not uncommon to hear established advisers discussing the use of technology to attract the next generation of clients and younger advisers to their firms. Some have also discovered that today's successful advisers have a great opportunity to harness technology for the wave of retiring baby boomers. Some advisers want to use technology to grow; others, to improve. Some want it all. Regardless of where you fall upon this spectrum, there is one undeniable truth: a new digital age has arrived and there is no going backward. Smart advisers, whatever their objective, must think like technology companies to not only survive, but thrive. That makes this a perfect time for advisers to review the services they utilize and identify areas where those services could be used more effectively or upgraded to better suit the growing needs of their clients. Advisers should determine their technology hierarchy of needs and then make realistic plans for how they can appropriately upgrade each critical area based on its importance to clients and its impact on other components of their technology stack. Based on what we see the most efficient and rapidly growing firms doing, here are some upgrades that advisers should consider: • Branded client portals — Advisers can present their own online gateway to client accounts instead of relying on their custodian's website. • Branded mobile apps — A majority of clients have a smartphone or tablet, and this puts the adviser's brand and services in the palm of the client's hand. • Digital video statements — Clients respond well to concise segments of the adviser on camera providing market updates and personalized portfolio reviews. • Digital calendar apps — Letting clients select when they visit the adviser puts them in control of their schedule while working around the adviser's, in real time. • CRM workflows — These help ensure all employees offer a consistent client experience by providing the firm with interactive prompts. • Google Analytics — Tracking the adviser's homepage hits and overall web presence reveals how many people find the firm online and under what circumstances. • Social media – Discussions that target narrow niches and drive homepage traffic allow advisers to talk to specific audiences while attracting positive attention. • Smartphone caller ID — It's easy to integrate software that gives advisers a pop-up showing the client's name, account balance and investment returns. Colorful, customized performance reports can make the mundane engaging for clients. An end-to-end billing tool can help advisers create fee schedules, as well as calculate, post and collect those fees. Business metrics reports can show advice firms how they compare, anonymously, with others that use the same platform, as well as track both top clients and advisers versus available averages. One important piece of advice — do not base your technology strategy on assumptions you are making about clients' ages or levels of tech sophistication. Apple makes the best products it can, and users between the ages of three and 103 can all find value. Retirees use technology in more advanced ways than many advisers realize. A majority of clients in this demographic have smartphones or tablets, which they enjoy using to watch videos and stay in contact with their children and grandchildren through a wide array of communication apps. Millennial and Generation X advisers entering the field expect firms to provide these tools. Younger advisers also are well suited to learn how to maximize technology and bring its full power to the firm. For example, millennials are social media natives who grew up with smartphones. I took typing class in high school (literally on a typewriter), and my first printer was a massive spool-fed beast that took its orders from the gigantic IBM mainframe and cathode ray tube monitor that took up 20% of the floor space in my dorm room. Yes, times have changed. The advantage you have as an independent adviser is that you can achieve these upgrades at reasonable costs and can integrate them with platforms that allow more flexibility than your wirehouse counterparts. I'm biased naturally as I grew up in this space, but it's what I love about the RIA universe — the power of choice. The ability for the best and brightest financial minds to serve their clients in the best possible way. Fiduciaries all, no two are alike. This is what excites us, drives us — empowering unique independent advisers united in the same mission. The versatility of all these tools is increasing in scope by the day. And it is up to advisers to decide how to use them most effectively in their businesses. In this sense, technology is the industry's great equalizer. So where are we going from here? All signs point to advisers combining comprehensive portfolio accounting solutions with robos to serve every generation. Today's established advisers need not pick sides or sacrifice large swathes of their client base. Rather, it is possible for advisers to upgrade technology in a way that both benefits clients and demonstrates the adviser's human value. This positions you to capture the massive opportunity ahead of you while serving all of your clients in ways none of us dreamed possible only 10, 15 or 20 years ago. So go ahead, think like a technology company for a moment. Think of the possibilities, of the ways you will use these new tools to make a difference. And whatever you embrace or leave on the sidelines from a technology perspective, do me a favor — don't ever stop thinking like an exceptional adviser. Eric Clarke is CEO of Orion Advisor Services.