Damien Clyburn of Otter Financial wasn't surprised when he didn't receive an influx of incoming calls from panicked clients after the COVID-19 pandemic began to intensity. This was, after all, a situation he'd prepared his clients for, although he had no idea it would be this rapid and serious.
Despite knowing the situation is temporary and having clients who understand that, he explains, "It's painful to see your own portfolio going down in value, but when you look after 100 families, you feel it 100 times more. I got more worried about it than my own clients."
But despite natural concern, Damien has taken this time to embrace technology and deepen client relationships. Here's one adviser's account of what's changed for him during these times and what's remained steadfastly stable.
Damien began to realize things were changing mid-March. He put his business continuity plan into action, which proved fairly seamless: "I work from home pretty regularly. All of our systems are stored in the cloud. We've adapted really well in the short space of time that we had to."
Beyond the systems already in place, Damien decided to take the plunge and invest in more technology for his office.
"I'm a little bit of a tech-phobe, to be honest," he explains. "What has happened in the last few weeks has helped me step up to the plate and embrace a lot of the technology available."
For Damien, this mean exploring new software to schedule and host virtual client meetings. The results haven't just been a holdover, in some cases they're improvements Damien plans to keep using.
Web conferencing for client meetings has proved a nimble and useful solution for Damien to keep communication strong with his clients:
"I've had five or six client meetings via Zoom, and they've gone much better than I could ever imagine. I screenshare with clients things like Voyant, showing them their plan. Some of these have gone better than my real-life face-to-face meetings. The convenience of having the laptop right in front of me and being able to wobble the mouse around salient points on the screen clients can clearly see on their end helps me demonstrate key points."
And video meetings aren't the only technology Damien has updated. He now schedules meetings via Calendly.
Prior to the pandemic, he explains: "We knew these simple solutions were available, but couldn't be bothered to implement them."
Damien's clients have responded well to video meetings. Some have even started using web conferencing to tune into non-financial virtual gatherings such as their exercise classes.
But even though Otter Financial has adopted new technology, Damien thinks now more than ever is the time to be personable with your clients.
Technology hasn't made Damien grow more distant from his clients. Rather, it strengthens his relationships with them. In general, he wants to offer his clients extra reassurance and guidance.
His first stop was making the effort to call each one of his clients:
"Speaking to each client was the integral part for me. Hearing their voice say, ‘Yes Damien, we're okay…' and knowing they were okay took a lot of the stress off my own back."
More recently, he popped into his physical office to check the post, and took the opportunity to email his clients asking if he could run any errands for them:
"I know there's a number of my clients who are by themselves or elderly, so I sent them a message asking, ‘do you want me to get anything? Shopping or utilities?' They were all super grateful for that, albeit they didn't need anything."
In Damien's view, he's simply, "…extending that relationship further to the clients, expressing you're not just their adviser but their friend." He wants to have conversations with his clients that go beyond arranged financial talk.
Damien has kept communication flowing with blog posts and even recorded updates, all found on his website. The ultimate message he wants to get to his them?
"I’m here for you no matter what. Even if it's just to have another friendly voice. Plenty of people struggling at this time and need someone to speak to."
