March 2017 – Giving you more control
“Things that took 8 hours, 40 years ago, can now be done in two – so why are we still working an 8-hour day?”
A client said this to me recently and it got me thinking: In order to be successful and sustainable, businesses constantly have to improve efficiencies so that they can be competitive and so that they can offer more value to their clients in less time. Other businesses then follow suit so the competitive advantage is soon lost with the result that they all have to continue to work the eight hours to earn sufficient income to survive.
This month we have launched AdviserGo for clients so that they can log in and view their life time cash flow that we have prepared for them. In the past when we have prepared their life time cash flow and their ‘what-if’ scenarios clients have often commented that they would like to be able to look again in their own time – well now they can.
Clients can now register on The Portal using Facebook, Twitter, and Google and last month we enhanced our Automated Advice which is best suited for small investors. With no initial fee and ongoing charges at half the price of Hargreaves Lansdown this is a great opportunity for many to achieve an ‘advised’ investment service at no initial cost
Our aim is to provide our clients with a valuable service and to deliver that service as efficiently as possible to keep those fees as low as possible. However, clients are playing their part in increasing efficiencies by communicating digitally via The Portal so should we reward these clients by reducing their fees? Perhaps a two-tier charging structure is the answer? Savings are already being passed on in other businesses. Do you remember when you were offered a discount from your monthly bills for your gas bills, phone bills, and elsewhere? Whereas now, more often than not, the standard charge applies if you receive your bills online and you have to pay more to receive bills by post. Please let me know what you think?
We take cyber security previously and it occurred to me last month that we are encouraging clients to go on line but not giving them any advice. One of your weakest links may be your password and a good place to check your security is to go to the following and type in your password: https://howsecureismypassword.net.
Some clients have been horrified to find that a cyber hacker could obtain their password within 30 seconds and they have made suitable adjustments immediately. I was pleased that one of my passwords came out as 53 years. If you would like any more tips or help with your online security please let me know.