Eight out of 10 (80%) advisers carried out over 50% of their client meetings virtually in 2021, of which a third (32%) conducted all meetings online, according to the new CIExpert Adviser Watch.
Only one in 10 (12%) advisers said they carried out less than 25% online.
The new CIExpert Adviser Watch – a poll of over 260 advisers ranging from protection advisers to mortgage intermediaries – has found that despite the abolition of all Covid restrictions in the UK, the trend for digital meet-ups with clients is one that looks set to continue in the months ahead.
Two-thirds (67%) of advisers stated that they will conduct over 50% of their client meetings virtually in 2022, while a fifth (22%) polled said that they will carry out 100% of all client meetings online.
The trend for virtual meetings has also led to a growing appetite from advisers for graphical tools that helps them to convey information with a shared screen with a client; the poll found that 86% of advisers agreed that graphical tools were important for this reason with 32% stating it was “extremely important” and a further 31% “very important”.
However, one in 10 advisers (10%) state they do not use any graphical tools to convey information to their clients during virtual meetings.
Alan Lakey, director at CIExpert, said: “The pandemic has accelerated the shift to embrace digital and virtual communications and this has been evident among how advisers interact with their clients.
“What is now apparent is that this is a shift that is unlikely to be reversed in the future as both advisers and clients clearly acknowledge the benefits of embracing technology into their lives.
“The CIExpert Adviser Watch, plus anecdotal evidence that we hear from the 1,000s of advisers we work with, tell us that as advisers are having far more virtual interactions with their clients, the opportunity to share their screen, leverage graphical tools and talk through the options available to them in order to present the rationale for their recommendations is absolutely crucial.”
CIExpert’s Insight Zone, launched in May 2021, offers a digital dashboard to streamline an adviser’s protection sales and research processes by expanding the existing comparison service to investigate the broader aspects of critical illness policy propositions in a visually explorative and educational way.
The Insight Zone provides a range of graphical tools extending beyond critical illness to include information on personal and business life policies and covers aspects such as claims stats, product flexibility, age and term limits and added value services, thereby providing advisers access to all the key information they need in a single, interactive resource.
Alan Knowles, managing director of Cura Financial Services, said: “As a predominantly telephone-based firm, we know the benefits of operating remotely, but interestingly we also adopted video calls too during the pandemic and still have clients regularly ask for such meetings.
“It’s provided us with the ability to see our clients and gives us the benefit of being able to speak to both partners at once, whilst not needing to drive or travel. For advisers who predominantly offer face to face advice, the remote option is cheaper, more sustainable and could make financial advice conversations more accessible to people with both physical and mental disabilities.
“Being flexible to best suit the needs of your clients as well as your business is definitely the way to go and I’m not surprised so many will keep utilising this going forward.”
Tom Conner, director at Drewberry, added: “We’ve certainly seen an increase in the demand from clients to conduct meetings via a video and that trend hasn’t eased with the end of lockdown. We’ve all become far more used to this tech and it is now part of the norm.
“The tech also allows screen sharing and we’ve often made use of it to share quote results demonstrating that we are whole of market, which builds trust.
“Being able to talk through CI Expert research with it shared on the screen is also particularly effective in moving the conversation away from just price and into quality.”
