As Chad Larsen was introducing closing keynote speaker Joey Coleman at the end of the 2019 NAPA 401(k) Summit on Tuesday in Las Vegas, Larsen predicted attendees would leave the session with specific ideas they could go home and implement tomorrow.
They did. The question, Coleman asked, was will they indeed follow through and implement something that can help them take advantage of the massive ongoing shift in customer expectations.
The shifting values, beliefs, and expectations of clients are bringing massive change to the forefront of every industry. But by focusing on the evolving expectations of prospects and clients alike, Coleman said advisors can not only weather the change, but grow market share and increase client engagement.
Coleman, Chief Experience Composer at Design Symphony in Boulder, Colo., showed attendees how they can indeed take advantage of this shift in sentiment.
He pointed out how juggernauts like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and others are creating customer experiences that are changing the expectation they have for their interactions with you.
“We have to create a feeling for our clients. We have to engage them emotionally,” Coleman said. “If we don’t stand out now and take the steps to create these types of remarkable customer experiences, we aren’t going to be around much longer.”
Coleman talked about how Facebook’s “like” button is fascinating because it helps the company then use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze your “likes” and then be able to predict what you’ll like in the future.
“If you hit ‘like’ 150 times, Facebook is better at anticipating whether you’ll like something in your future better than your spouse,” he said. “At 300 ‘likes’ it is better at predicting if you’ll like something than you are.”
If you ever wonder why you see Facebook ads that seem targeted specifically to things you’ve “liked” recently, this is why. And Amazon’s Alexa is into this game, too. Coleman notes how the ubiquitous home device always has to be listening in order to respond when you say “Alexa.” He posits that all your conversations could be recorded, analyzed with AI, and before you know it those compression socks you like that you mentioned to your wife in the kitchen recently are now showing up in ads on your feeds.
After telling stories about Chinese facial and object recognition technology and how it is being used to “score” Chinese citizens, and how we’re doing something similar here by rating Uber drivers while they rate riders and then can decide whether or not to provide a ride, Coleman said this level of familiarity is a wave already being ridden.
“I’m not saying invest in AI, but the landscape is changing. We have two choices: we can get on the train, or we can get on the tracks,” he said. “The face of the customer is changing. What are we going to do to be ready for it?”
He advised attendees to start looking into ways to build into their business the anticipatory systems that allow you to see where your clients want to go, and then you can create a frictionless, familiar experience. You observe, you watch, then you can anticipate where they are going, and then you can remove the friction.
One way to do it? Research clients and prospects on social media. “Your clients are on social media all day every day giving you everything you need to have a level of familiarity. The question is, are you going to do anything with it?”
- MORE FROM THE 2019 NAPA 401(k) SUMMIT: When your client says ‘fees,’ you say ‘value’
Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.