Coughlin notes that some of the changes are just an “acceleration” of trends already happening. He also notes that “technology is the new toilet paper” and everyone is buying it up.
Brennan, for her part, is surprised how quickly her clients, especially older ones, have adapted to Zoom calls and other ways of remotely communicating.
Coughlin adds that COVID-19 has “pushed technology into our lives.” He has done virtual events that are more intimate than their pre-crisis live events because they have fewer attendees. As such, video conferencing is here to stay as a way of communicating with clients, Brennan says. In fact, her close rates for new clients have been “incredible,” she says.
The crisis has also pushed clients to reexamine their whole lives and seek advice beyond financial planning. “The client now knows they can have conversations with you about more than their portfolio,” Coughlin says, according to the Forbes article. “The industry is really at a frontier where they can broaden their reach beyond planning, beyond finance, and start to own the entire lifespan and life experiences.”