Navigating the transition to new advice technology

1. Set an implementation plan

Before you begin your journey to implement new tech, it’s crucial to be clear about its temporary impact on the business. This foresight ensures a smoother transition.

Prepare for any disruption by communicating early and frequently with the team and securing their buy-in on how to best manage the process alongside their existing workload.

To get organised, you might consider:

• Appointing an internal project manager to oversee the transition, regularly report on progress, and troubleshoot with the provider.
• Hiring additional resources for the transition period for data entry and manually intensive work.
• Minimising client meetings and allowing more space for the technology transition.

2. Rally the team

Getting everyone in the business—from key stakeholders to staff and advisers—on board early is essential. If they understand the positive impact the new technology will have on their client relationships, they’re more likely to embrace the process and focus on the benefits once the implementation is complete. Sharing these potential gains with clients can also help ease any concerns about temporary disruptions.

A trial or test account can help here, to get key practice members engaged and involved. This hands-on experience often turns them into champions of the new system, igniting enthusiasm throughout the entire business.

However, practices sometimes run into trouble when one stakeholder decides to adopt the new technology but then communicates changes in a top-down manner, simply informing the team of decisions without seeking input. This approach can frustrate the team and reduce their willingness to support the transition.

Instead, engage your advisers and paraplanners by asking questions like “What are your thoughts?” and “What problems are you seeing?” and using those insights to make adjustments and drive the process. Regular communication and feedback loops ensure any pain points are managed quickly and any setbacks are communicated to the provider for additional support.

3. Establish business and tech goals

Clearly defining how the new technology will positively impact your business is key to a successful implementation. Consider how it will enhance your clients’ experience, save advisers time, and contribute to business growth and revenue in the future.

At intelliflo, we use our customers’ eAdviser score to monitor solution usage, providing a comprehensive snapshot of how practices interact with our software. This helps us identify where extra support or training might be needed.

We find practices that set clear goals for how they will use the technology are more likely to carry those objectives from the implementation phase into their daily operations and business development. This approach not only improves efficiency but also drives business growth. Our research shows that full adoption of intelliflo’s suite of tools is closely linked to these outcomes.

4. Have the right support in place

Support is a critical component of the implementation process; it’s important both before the technology is adopted and after it’s live and in use.

Well before onboarding begins, the provider’s sales team should ensure the product aligns well for the practice and its goals. At intelliflo, we take our customers through a bespoke onboard, starting off with an intro call to gather all the details we need to successfully configure their customer account, and a discovery call to understand the customer’s goals and objectives. We ensure this is all done in a timely, structured manner, with the customer front of mind.

During the implementation, regular communication between the customer and provider helps ensure the process is as smooth as possible. We try to identify early where customers may like additional training and find ways to enhance their experience of the software when it’s up and running.

Once the technology is live, the support process should continue. Customers will have questions and their needs will change – it’s the role of the technology provider to evolve with them, addressing new challenges and opportunities as they arise.

With the right process and support in place, the technology implementation can run smoothly, delivering an improved client experience and enhanced business efficiency from day one.