News Review: Technology
Moisturising cream, eye gel and technology
by Simon Maskell, technology director, Legal & General network
For the first time in my life i bought a male beauty product. a little embarrassing being a hardened male in his early 40s but time is catching up with me and i’ve been using my wife’s moisturising cream. Should i admit i would have used her eye gel for tired eyes if she’d had any? anyway, my point is i
suppose it’s a fact of life that ageing is inevitable and we all have to adapt. the same can be said of technology. the pace with which it moves is staggering and we have to make changes so we aren’t left behind. unfortunately in our business i believe firms find it very hard to make practical changes and shy away from the technology questions rather than facing up to them.
Get connected ask yourself this question: how would your business be impacted tomorrow if you could only access your technology online? i hear some businesses say no problem but others will resist this change as it impacts the way they do business, especially those who choose to visit customers in their homes. But it is useful to think
about why you might resist going online. typical responses i get to that question often include the following: i do business in
my clients’ homes - how i am going to get online? accessing the internet is impossible where i live. What if the signal goes half way through the process? i will have to go back to paper and that is a backward step. my advisers would struggle to cope with new technology, they are happier with the current offline solution. While i agree some of
these instances can be very frustrating when trying to update your business’ technology, there are some things worth considering, which might help brokers think again about embracing it.
the ability to access the
internet while out and about is easier than ever as mobile technology has improved markedly. Smart phones are built around the internet to provide their functionality and coverage providers also now have a commitment to serve 90% plus of the uK population. the government is also committed to bringing 2m bit per second broadband to everyone in the country by 2015, which will help with online access in your clients’ homes. So i would say to those who
worry about connectivity, don’t. the market will take care of it and it shouldn’t put you off exploring the benefits of what new systems can offer you. instead it is better to think about all the ways new technology can be embraced and embedded in your business to give you real value and competitive advantage. it is worrying that many broker firms are not
12 mortgage introducer MARCH 2011
changing their business models to keep pace with the growing online world. if half the energy spent resisting inevitable advances in technology was directed at taking advantage of the opportunities technology could offer firms, advisers and customers would be benefiting right now.
“Ask yourself this question: how would your busi- ness be impacted tomorrow if you could only access your technology online?”
Start the change now imagine for a moment that from tomorrow all your technology had to be online. What would you do? do you know enough about the various technology based solutions that are available which give you quick and easy access to mortgage sourcing? many of them will give you all the tools you need to give you complete confidence with your customers, such as easy to use calculators, multiple sourcing for products, best buy tables and online property valuations. many of your customers
will be into technology themselves and so be familiar and impressed with you using it, in fact you could let them use and play with it. they could easily complete the facts within a fact find for you and play
with the mortgage sourcing/ life quote system. don’t forget, more and
more people now use mobile technology than they do their own Pc. every day people are using their iPhones and iPads to manage their lives, including banking and shopping. they expect the same from their financial adviser and mortgage broker. identify how you can take
advantage of the mobile technology tools now available such as iPhone apps. these can give you the ability to instantly give a customer a quote, calculate monthly
repayments
including changes to rates and overpayments. the new world of social media such as Facebook and twitter can also assist your business in building customers relationships. they can help you keep in touch with your customers if that is the way they want to interact with you and demonstrates that you are listening to their needs and keeping in touch with them in the way that helps them best. Last but not least your
technology suppliers have a key role to play in helping you take advantage of this growing market. they need to convince you how it will work and enhance your business. Let them prove it. i did say ageing was
inevitable and to be honest i regret not using the moisturising cream 10 years ago, whatever the perception of others. in 10 years from now, make sure you don’t have regrets about the choices you make with your technology today.
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