There is a big momentum in wealth management to invest in digital capability. But while COVID-19 has moved things along for the digital provision of financial advice, businesses are still feeling the customer pressure to make bigger strides forward.
The vast majority of wealth management and advice firms are at a ‘getting organised’ stage - looking at how they can take digital wider within the business, make it a permanent part of their strategy and ensure their digital initiatives are successful. Many will be wondering where to take their digital strategy and how to scale-up having made the initial steps. If that sounds like where your business is at, we’ve got just what you need to get on and get ahead with a roadmap for digital success. And, while every advice business is different, it starts in the same place, with the same question.
What do you ultimately want from your digital strategy?
To set a roadmap for the future, you’ve got to be clear about what you are trying to achieve. Start by asking, ‘what do you ultimately want from your digital strategy?’
- Better client experience?
- Streamline and improve processes?
- Cut out unnecessary costs?
- Serve different client segments?
Once you know where you’re going, you can create the momentum to move on and make it happen.
Three rules for digital success
A useful mantra for any successful digital strategy is to ‘think big, start small and scale fast’. This will help you focus on the right things, make progress and see results sooner:
1. Think big
- Have a strategic vision about where you’re trying to get to.
- Undertake a health check - establish where the gaps are in your digital capability.
- Identify the degree of agility in your business. Can you stand up to digital initiatives and them developing and moving forward?
- Pick the top three journeys that cause you the most pain or where you see the most benefit.
2. Start small
- Take the time to understand your clients’ needs and write out their personas, so you know what you’re trying to solve.
- Move forward to a production version quickly - minimum viable product. Don’t try to get everything right the first time; you’ll look back in 12 months and still won’t have achieved anything.
- Get into the discipline of moving things forward quickly.
3. Scale fast
- Learn from what works in your business, build the capabilities, get that roadmap in place and focus on iterative development so that you can keep the initiatives moving forward.
- Short term quick wins could be simple things. This year has taught us how quickly businesses can move when they need to.
- Few businesses have the capability they need in-house, so think about getting a technology partner to support you. Very few wealth firms reach out to partners for help, yet the challenges they face suggest they should.
Contributor Alpha FMC, 2020
So there you have it. A roadmap and a few simple rules to take your digital strategy forward. But remember, there is no finishing line. Digital is a culture shift and your aim should be to implement a culture of continuous improvement. That’s the digital utopia.
Want to find out how to get your digital strategy right from the outset and build a roadmap for success?
The ultimate guide to digital wealth management, for wealth managers who want to get ahead.
