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BLOG: What virtual quizzes have taught us about accessing financial advice

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
09/06/2020

I’m clearly not the first person to note how different our lives today look compared to just a few months ago. In both our working and our social lives, we are simply having to embrace new ways of doing things.

For many, a Zoom quiz has become a staple weekend activity, while dinner parties, choir practices and even weddings also take place online. Our workdays have been transformed too, with it now common practice to have video meetings with colleagues throughout the day from the comfort of a sofa, or home office.

A significant number of us are also making time for a conversation with a financial adviser, perhaps in a lunch break, all from the same iPhone or iPad.

This major adjustment to working and living has taught us a thing or two about technology and how it can support us to be more flexible and productive in the future.

Advising clients on estate planning, setting up wills and trusts, powers of attorney and complex tax issues is my team’s day-to-day. It’s safe to say that before the lockdown this work would largely have been conducted face-to-face. However, not having that option has helped many people, including me, to see that good advice is as valuable and powerful when delivered remotely as it is in-person.

The uncomfortable truth is we’ve all been forced to embrace the technology that has always been available, but was very rarely properly utilised. This same technology will undoubtedly continue having a real impact on how we interact with and support clients, and how we deliver advice, when Covid-19 is a distant memory. In fact, I am actively hoping it does.

Seeking financial advice shouldn’t feel like a chore or an inconvenience and shouldn’t take chunks out of anyone’s day. Being able to speak to your adviser while you’re having your lunch or when your child is napping offers a more flexible and convenient way of working and living in our “new normal”.

Of course, there will still be a place for face-to-face meetings. There are just some conversations which are easier to have in person. However, the efficiency and simplicity of a video call will see many people continue to use technologies like Zoom in their day-to-day lives even when we don’t have to. I know I’ll be one of them.

Shona Lowe is the private client and corporate director at financial advice firm, 1825