How much of the process should be automated, and how much should be direct?
With new requirements around documentation and record keeping, advisers have been adopting new technology and automation at a fast rate - however, striking the right balance between personal and automated communication can be tricky.
Mark Pullar, CEO and principle adviser at Roost, said that although everybody has been investing in new technology over the past few years, maintaining a direct line of communication with the client is just as important as it ever was. He said the key focus for every adviser should be making sure the client knows they can contact you directly at any stage, and to cement that personal relationship by starting out with a face-to-face meeting.
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“We’re all adopting the technology we need to help gather up the documents we need more efficiently, to help the client, and to deliver the advice in a way they can understand it, and have that understanding in writing,” Pullar said.
“But those initial face to face meetings are key to really solidifying that personal relationship, which is really important when it comes to cementing our point of difference with the lenders.”
“At Roost, we do have a templated series of communications that we give out along the way, so we have that initial meeting followed by a roadmap of what the client needs to know at each stage, and what the next steps are,” Pullar explained.
“We compliment that by enabling the client to engage with us any way they want. I always tell my clients that they can text me any time, and if we’ve sent an email that they’re not quite sure about, to give me a call and I can talk them through it. If they need to come in to talk about anything, they can make a time and come in to see us.”
Pullar said that it is also important to focus on each stage of the process as you go through it, rather than give the client all of the information at once. He said Roost’s ‘roadmap’ approach has been designed to deliver information at key stages throughout the process, and this is vital to ensuring that the client is constantly in the loop.
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“The important thing is we make the client feel like they can contact us any time, and at the same time we follow our set process to ensure that we’ve delivered the key pieces of information as they’re needed,” Pullar said.
“We also try and focus on grounding the client in the part of the process that they are in. If they’re at the stage of getting their loan approved, then that’s the part we focus on.
“If we’re in the process of meeting the lender’s conditions so they can go unconditional, that’s what we’re going to focus on - we’re not talking about interest rates or loan structure yet. We’re going to talk about the detail of that when it’s important. That’s really key to the way we work.”
