If there is anything we learned from the beginning of the pandemic, it’s that life comes at you fast. Picture this – you walk into your office on a Monday morning in late February of 2020, your coffee is hot, and your client meetings are lined up and fully prepped. The work week is off to a normal start… and then you hear mumblings in the halls about COVID. Fast forward a few weeks and your dining room table has transformed into your office and your dog is now your primary assistant; life as you knew it changed on a dime.

Likewise, businesses around the world had to rethink their game plans and make serious decisions about how to survive the pandemic. With the lockdowns seemingly on the way out, those decisions warrant reconsideration. When things calm down, can a hybrid model of home and office be considered? Do the clients want to come to the office again, or do they prefer video? What platforms work best for team communication and information sharing? Most of all, can virtual work be as productive and fulfilling as office work?

As we strive to answer these questions, we approach an opportunity to restructure, rebrand, and refocus. The swift manner with which the industry was able to maneuver through closures and volatile circumstances proved that we could change course swiftly and come out on the other side victoriously. As we re-tool, there are some thought-provoking trends making their way into the light.

Broker/Dealers continue to lose market share to RIAs

In December 2020, Investment News declared that RIAs and other independents would overshadow the four remaining wall street wire-houses in the investment adviser race. Despite COVID and the related common difficulties in moving, advisers have still been shifting away from traditional Wall Street. While the adviser population of traditional wire-house firms have fallen steadily over the last five years, the RIA population has risen - in a clear sign there is a shift in the industry.

What is finally pushing advisers to a new advice model? Flexibility and Differentiation!

Due to the ability of RIA’s having more control over the client experience, advisers who move to an RIA platform find themselves in an environment more directly aligned with the needs of clients… with a simpler regulatory environment as a bonus! New technology platforms offer tools that rival that of the previous industry giants. The payoff can manifest itself in several ways, depending on the desire of the adviser: would you like a larger practice with consistent growth, or would you prefer building a lifestyle practice? As a business owner, the choice can be yours!

Virtualization - no going back

With the pandemic altering every aspect of client contact, transitioning to a virtual model just made sense. For many of us, we already had much of the equipment and software to be virtually accessible… we simply didn’t use it. For some, the pandemic gave us the impetus to lean-in on virtualization – and truly begin to explore the potential for remote work. Video meetings didn’t merely cut down on travel time for clients (bonus!), they gave advisers the opportunity to evaluate the overall effectiveness of their client communication. There is much to be said about a conversation in which you can look someone in the eye; although telephones can be effective, communication over video offers a more robust human connection.

One of the challenges of 2022 will be in choosing how – or if – to return to the office. Should we continue to lean-in on virtualization, or bring our newfound skills back to the office? Offices still have some advantages… for some the block-and-tackle of video meetings never felt “normal”. Moreover, virtualization brings many of its own challenges: Where should you put your office? Who handles IT support? How can you manage physical client meetings?

Although virtualization holds great promise, the reality requires more technical skill and flexibility than required by an office job. For each of us, the calculus of “what works best for me” is different… but each of us will have an opportunity to make that decision soon!

Clients want an expanded definition of advice

Clients today are no longer afraid to ask for more. They want advice beyond foundational financial planning and asset management – they’re looking for advice on how to live a better life. Financial advice, yes… but more!

What is the “more” to which they are referring? It’s time to begin addressing clients’ need for advice beyond accounts and financial models; it’s time to address the clients’ desire for well-being. How can you offer advice that will help them live a better life?

Well-being is often divided into five dimensions: physical, financial, emotional, social, and personal. As any adviser can testify, client conversations seldom color within the lines. A discussion of a client’s financial situation can, and should, expand to encompass every aspect of their life. But is that advice integral to the process, or merely small talk?

For advisers, it may be time to begin the process of addressing the needs of well-being more formally. How can we expand our definition of advice to help meet those needs? The answer may bring your advice-business the differentiation necessary to make your business “must-have” for a segment of the market. The process of offering resources for a more well-rounded life experience may make your business more successful, and in-turn, more fulfilling!

Smart Marketing becomes critical to growth

Clients are aware that not all advisers are the same – this is more of a reality today than any other time in the industry. The ability to compare firms is at the tip of our clients’ fingers. They can evaluate in split-screen what firms offer and charge. Clients are doing extensive research… looking for reviews from other clients, in-depth articles, and fluid communication. As we enter 2022, it’s time to seriously evaluate, “How do you stand out?”

Customers are looking for convenience, reassurance, value, inspiration, and uniqueness. They want to know that the time and money they invest in your relationship will pay dividends. They’re looking for someone who is honest, transparent, and has their best interest at the forefront of their decisions. Assuming you can check those boxes, how are they going to find you? For most advisers the answer begins by evaluating resources within their current firm. If those resources are thin, consider hiring a marketing firm that specializes in financial advisers.

The ability to create effective marketing is within the reach of most advisers; the time is now to begin educating yourself on how to shift your energy from working hard to working smart!

Disruptive user experiences will drive innovation

Tesla, Disney+, DoorDash, Peloton, Purple, Airbnb, Uber, Dollar Shave Club, and Netflix. What do they have in common? Each of these brands found growth and success through disruption.

In the world of financial advice, though, disruption seems… difficult. The rigid nature of our heavily regulated environment can make innovation a challenge and disruption seemingly impossible. As a result, many of the disruptions in the advice space are related to the more “human” side of the business. To explore this kind of disruption, start by asking yourself one of these two questions:

• Is there some small thing that I can do that would improve the experience of every client in an innovative or new way that can make my advice brand stand out?
• Is there a small sub-segment of clients for whom I could provide an extraordinary experience that is tailored to them and will make my advice brand the obvious best choice?

Beyond disruptions that are directly related to your client contact, the best place to look for disruptions can be found in some of the newer generation of FinTech companies, which brings us to:

Smart use of technology improves quality of advice

The last few years have seen extraordinary developments in technology available in advice, especially for RIA’s. You should take some time to explore what’s new in technology to evaluate whether your technology platform is due for an upgrade!

Clients frustrated you can’t manage or trade their 401(k) accounts? FeeX offers a secure retirement account trading platform. Want to take the guesswork out of risk assessment? Riskalyze can help you put more “science” in your risk alignment and eliminate old stereotypes from your risk tolerance measures. Want to take your marketing efforts to the next level? HubSpot can help you manage every aspect of your client engagement and prospect outreach.

We may not have seen the end of the pandemic, but it’s probable we’ve seen the beginning of the end. As the world begins to reopen and return to “normal”, we all have the ability to decide what kind of “normal” we want. Trends emerging in the industry of financial advice give the small business owner options and flexibility that were impossible only two years ago. The choice is yours!