Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more and more conversational with the customer, according to a panellist at this year’s FundForum event.
The panel discussed ways of adding value to the customer and how to justify a fee, as well as what the winning service, fee, and collaboration model of the future will look like.
The moderator began the session by asking the panel what is value for the clients?
To which, one member of the panel said: “If you are considering value for money, and if we put ourselves in the shoes of the consumer and what they are expecting then you must ask: what product you are servicing? Do you trust the brand or product? And then you have to make a judgement call on whether you are prepared to pay that price for the service that you are getting.”
The challenge in this, however, is that you often don’t know until further down the line, the speaker explained.
The speaker continued: “In terms of product design there is a big move towards products outcomes that are more benchmark relative, the explanation and language that we use with investors, how we engage, and how we can add to the education part. Value for money is the whole experience that the client receives for it.”
Meanwhile, another panellist said: “I think that value lies in the eye of the beholder. We lost whatever trust we had with the regulator in the financial crisis. Another result from the crisis was that interest rates plummeted due to the policies that were implemented, and anything that you couldn’t consume soared in value.”
“We need to take the perspective of the client and look at what they want to consume when they retire and we need to live up to those dreams. They could be realistic or unrealistic but they are looking into their future and what they want to do with their money, and we have to give them advice of what is realistic.”
The panel was then asked if transparency is good or bad, in response one panellist said: “Regulation transparency is a good thing because it has made certain aspects more clear for the client. There are different players and each one has its own fee, etc. And, the legislation has allowed the client to understand the cost of each component.”
“Be brutally honest with your client”, another panellist advised, “once that’s behind you then you can talk about the merit of the product. There are expectations that you are also serving at the same time and the suitable might not necessarily be the cheapest. It is, in fact, an element of building trust. Clients want the opportunity to ask a question and with transparency and communication there is trust.”
Further discussing value for money, one member of the panel said: “There are different prices that you can pay for different products out there and some people are willing to pay more for a better service. Bring product and service experience together in a more customised way and keep the client informed along the way, which I think we have done too well as an industry.”
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