It is clear that this will not be enough. Even if it satisfies the regulator — which is far from certain — it will not satisfy the customer, and it will not appeal to the next generation of clients, who have come of age in this Amazon world.
Deliver quality financial planning
How do you get it right? Give your clients what they want. Deliver value, every year, by providing a personal plan they cannot get elsewhere, the confidence and trust that they cannot get elsewhere, and a portfolio that is designed to deliver against that plan.
Do that, and your customers will be happy, because they will be better placed to fund the life they want at a risk that is right for them: to retire when they want; to generate the income they want; to put money away regularly, giving them a sense of security, because they are doing the right thing for their future.
Even if they need to click a button each year to say they still require your service, they will do it willingly, and tell their friends — and their children — about you.
Of course, that is far from simple. Delivering quality financial planning across your client base takes time and money. But you can do it, and do it at scale, by letting technology take more of the load.
Offer digital touchpoints
Provide mobile and digital-first engagement, rather than requiring everything to be an email, a phone call or a meeting. Offer those intuitive digital touchpoints that consumers have come to expect, making it easier for clients to do their share of the admin load.
And provide choices about the level of support your customers receive — information, guidance or full advice. That way, lower-value clients can be engaged now, at low marginal cost to serve, and become future clients of value for your company.
To finish with another Bezos quote: “Customers are always beautifully, wonderfully dissatisfied, even when they report being happy and business is great. Even when they don’t yet know it, customers want something better.”
Now, and in the coming years, your clients are going to want something better. Leading with customer value, not product sales, will be key to delivering it. And those firms that succeed in delivering personalised financial planning at scale will win out.
Ben Goss is chief executive of Dynamic Planner
