Financial Advisors: Be Face-To-Face Without Being In-Person

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Financial Advisors: Be Face-To-Face Without Being In-Person

September 15, 2015

by Crystal Butler

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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.

Less than 35% of the message in a conversation is conveyed by spoken words – the other 65% is communicated with facial expressions and body language,” Ray L. Birdwhistell, late anthropologist and professor of communications

Cell phones and/or text messages are the preferred and easiest methods of communicating. But how do financial advisors make sure they are successfully reaching their clients when so much communication is done on the go? Although cell phones are efficient for quick response time, an email or text message isn’t always the best route, especially if a client wants to review their financial plan, ask a question about a recent statement or has a big life event to discuss. Meeting with someone in-person is still a good thing. Being able to read someone’s expressions is priceless. But things have changed. Businesses are not always located in close proximity to clients, and clients might have odd work schedules or be too busy to come in for a meeting. How can you overcome this? How do you make sure you don’t miss an opportunity to see what your client is thinking and vice versa? Over the past few decades, major strides have been made in how we hold meetings remotely. Not long ago, a conference call was typically our only way to speak to one another if we weren’t in a common location. However, more and more organizations (and individuals) prefer to see one another when discussing things. Enter video conferencing. Video conferencing used to be limited to the big organizations that could afford the pricey technology. It’s now used in many industries and businesses. Recent developments in mobile devices and wireless networks have propelled further interest in being able to video conference from practically anywhere! In addition to the benefit of seeing someone, video conferencing provides additional advantages such as reduced travel risk and time, larger attendance, shorter meeting time and faster response times.

I’ve summarized some tools that can help you achieve a face-to-face meeting even if you aren’t necessarily in-person. GoTo Meeting is a service that is easy to use and easy to manage. Monthly or annual (low-cost) subscription plans are available, giving your business tools that include high-definition (HD) video conferencing, screen sharing capabilities, mobile access to meetings, calendar integration and the option to record the meeting so that it can be replayed. When using GoTo Meeting, you are able to set-up meetings with clients using technology that is professional yet affordable. Zoom is similar to GoTo Meeting. It has a free plan that is available for smaller meetings, but Zoom also offers a subscription plan for businesses that require more robust meeting support. Some benefits of this service are HD video and voice, screen sharing (including iPhone and iPad), group messaging, whiteboarding and meeting recording.

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