Last night I spent two hours researching webcams. At the risk of stating the obvious, I did not enjoy the process. And, when I still hadn’t made a decision by the end of it, there was some muttering under my breath. This morning I woke up, refreshed, and decided to help just one person avoid the same fate. So, I thought about what most advisors want to achieve – deeply engaged client relationships – and set about to share the three tools that I use create more engaging client conversations. I hope this saves you at least a few hours of time.

Can technology create deeper client engagement?

We all know that client engagement is driven by the depth of the relationships you have with your clients and that no technology can replace that relationship. However, we also know that client engagement can be dramatically enhanced if you make your communication process as easy and meaningful as possible. The three tools below have been incredibly helpful in creating more engaged client conversations, simply because they offer more and better ways to hold the conversation. I use them most days and I share them simply as a shortcut for anyone interested in enhancing their client conversations. You might consider using these tools to:

• Run meaningful meetings with busy clients who can’t come to the office often enough.
• Allow a spouse that can’t attend a review meeting to participate in a more meaningful way.
• Personalize your on-going client communications.
• Create greater connection with virtual or remote team members.

To follow is a quick description of each tool and examples of how you can use them to create more meaningful client conversations. You can also download the resource list I created by clicking on the link below.  I created this to provide more ideas on how you can use these tools along with details like cost. (It might be important to note that there are, of course, other tools on the market and that I don’t benefit by sharing the information in any way.)

‍Click to Access Resource List

‍1. Video Meetings with Zoom

I love Zoom. It’s an easy to use - and inexpensive - way to run video meetings. The basic package allows you to run and record meetings with up to 25 people on the screen at the same time (even if those people are in 25 different locations). Just using this technology to conduct client meetings creates a personal connection you simply cannot get on the phone. However, with the click of a button, you can also record a client meeting or just record yourself speaking. If you are wondering about the quality, just click the link below. I shot this with my built-in webcam and microphone.

Quick Idea: You could record clients discussing their goals for the future and play those clips back for your clients. It might be a good reminder if they aren’t on track or the perfect way to highlight positive progress after several years.

2. Make Meetings Interactive with Go-to-Meeting

I use Go-to-Meeting if I want the focus to be on the slides rather than the video (or if I don’t want to use video). You have likely used this technology to participate in a webinar, however it’s a great tool to use while doing phone meetings with clients. If you want to personalize the meeting further you can share your webcam so your smiling face appears on screen. However, while you can easily record your voice and slides, I have found that that video doesn’t record.

‍Quick Idea: Conduct occasional client review meetings via web meeting. You can share the client’s statements or other reports on-screen while you are speaking. This makes the meeting highly interactive without the client having to be there in person. Or, if one spouse can’t attend, use a web-meeting in conjunction with a face-to-face meeting so he or she can call in to attend.

3. Make Recording Available to Clients

If you are recording any videos (using either of the above programs), I would suggest you use a video hosting platform, like Sprout, rather than housing everything on your server. It cheap, easy and doesn’t take up capacity. You can simply upload the videos to the system and then share the link with whomever you want to provide access. With Sprout, there are options to password protect access to videos or create playlists. It will automatically create an ‘embed code’ if you want to add a video to a blog post or presentation. I upload anything I create in Zoom or Go-to-Meeting to Sprout.

‍Quick Idea: Create a playlist of educational videos that you have recorded using one of the previous tools. That playlist could include three to five videos providing clients with different ideas on issues not related to investments (e.g. communicating about money with your spouse, talking to your children about money, quick tips on organizing your financial paperwork)

It’s Just Technology

I know, I know…nothing will replace the intimacy of a face-to-face meeting. That said, I think this comes very close and many of your clients may prefer to save the time of coming to the office for every meeting.

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Thanks for stopping by,

Julie