Susan Theder, FMG Suite
In this first installment of a blog series with Susan Theder, CMO of FMG Suite, Susan discusses the importance of new technology adoption.
Get out of your comfort zone
Technology impacts all aspects of the advisor business from retention to new client acquisition to the equity in their practice. Everything.
In a Seth Godin article, he says there are those who are naysayers that point out the deficiencies anytime anything new comes out and why they will never use it, and there are those who think about the possibilities. Advisors who are naysaying before they even try new technology are going to fall way behind their peers.
It’s incumbent upon all of us, and especially the advisors who are stewards of the financial futures of their clients, to be availing ourselves of every possible opportunity to fine tune our investment process, streamline our back office, market our business, and build our brands. There is technology that enables all those things, and it is critical that we become believers in the possibilities and try not to fall into that comfort zone of “I'm actually a little insecure, so I'm just going to say nobody needs this.”
There are those who live to challenge the status quo and try new things and those who are most resistant to change. It's understandable why—it’s comfortable, things are working the way they are today, and it’s natural to assume that change isn’t strictly necessary to grow. New technologies such as ChatGPT are especially bringing out the naysayer mentality. Technology that can write a blog for you seems too good to be true. However, advisors are seeing how a content marketing strategy across multiple mediums, mainly digital, can pay off.
When it comes to using technology to market in the past, there were many advisors that were reluctant to market themselves. Some would say “I don't need to market," yet we know that client experience, communications, events, their brand, and their website are all marketing. I believe that they grow through referrals, as well.
Advisors can start using digital marketing to expand, but the crux is going to be through referral. What is influencing that referral, though, is their digital brand and their ability to nurture somebody from the top of the funnel through and stay top of mind.
I do not find that many advisors are still saying “I don't need to market.”
Advisors now say “I need to market. Help me.”
While there is a need for seasoned advisors to adopt new technologies, there are some factors in play that have already begun affecting their viewpoint. One such pivotal factor was COVID-19.
The pandemic forced many of us to change the way we work. For advisors, they couldn't have in-person events or client meetings, they had to learn how to use Zoom, and they realized the use of LinkedIn. I think that they just had this “Ah ha” moment.
I really can't think of an advisor that I've had to convince that digital marketing is something they need to do. The pandemic created a whole new awareness that a client’s first impression is your website and what comes up when people search for you.
How can seasoned advisors be encouraged to adopt new technologies?
I'm super passionate about the voice of the customer. I, however, always go back to the analogy that if Steve Jobs waited for somebody to tell him that they wanted an iPhone, we'd never have one.
Susan Theder | CMO of FMG Suite
Broker-dealers and thought leaders are there to aid advisors. They look around the corners and see what's coming to help the advisor be ahead of it and remove the anxiety of that responsibility being on the advisor's shoulder so they can manage their business, knowing that the broker-dealer is going to be constantly evaluating what technology will make them better.
Once they do that, there's always a focus group of passionate early adopters. Getting their feedback is great, but I think it's a combination. It's not “do you want this?”, it's “we see this great opportunity” and then leveraging the advisor to both pressure-test your gut and help you customize, fine tune, and position it to have the greatest adoption and likelihood for success.
Painting the picture
In the end, I think that successful advisors paint a picture of the future their clients want to see and help them get there. Clients want an outcome and want to know that the advisor has the expertise to get them there.
Going back to something I mentioned at the beginning of the article, technology impacts all aspects of the advisor business and helps them achieve great outcomes for their clients.
As our partner ecosystem continues to expand, you can keep an eye out for more content to come on our blog: In the Loop.
Susan Theder is the Chief Marketing and Experience Officer at FMG Suite, emphasizing the importance of customer-focused strategies that leverage data and technology for personalized experiences.
