In today’s Post Pandemic world of frequent mergers and acquisitions, poorly staffed customer service centers, (including unsupervised home-based), poorly trained customer service reps and “service” by AI run online chats/bots - it’s never been more important to have an advisor to help you through the fray!
Recently at a monthly meeting of small business owners that I helped form 6 years ago, we were talking about the frustration of getting help these days. The conversation went on for quite some time, as each of us had several stories to tell. It felt good to know that, “I’m not the only one experiencing this!”
Pre-pandemic, in my “client advocate role”, I helped clients who had issues that were technically their fault, but the underlying large financial company needed “encouragement” to be more understanding and nimble to help them.
Examples:
A client started too late for a transaction that needed to be dated by 12/31 (I called management and they turned it around in time) - or
A client who missed life insurance premium payments (wife was in hospital) and had their precious life insurance policy canceled - until we firmly influenced the insurance company to do what’s right, and reinstate the policy.
The Post Pandemic area presents a fresh set of challenges! All industries are severely impacted by understaffing in numbers and experience, including financial services.
I find myself calling in to get help on a procedure or unique form I don’t use often for clients. The person on the phone doesn’t know the answer and puts me on hold. While on hold I research further on my own and figure it out. They come back on the line, I share that I figured it out, and now I am teaching them!
I can share one victory. Just last week, my wife and I needed to change an airline award trip in part because the airline itself changed our reservations. It led to me having a chat conversation with a live person. It was painfully slow - would have been far easier on the phone - but we got it done, and we were issued better seats that we would not have been able to choose on-line which is how we initially set up the travel.
This is the critical importance of having an advisor in the current world of mergers/acquisitions and limited access to live help on the phone. You need an advisor that is willing to go the extra mile when normal methods are not working!
This is in addition to what all advisors should be advisng, in an encouraging way, that you have current long term financial projections (key part of a financial plan) in place (kept updated) as well as estate planning in place (kept updated). Advisors should also help you cope (manage emotions of fear/greed) with the noisy world of investing concepts and market movements. So many people, including some advisors, allow their propensity to “take action” in response to today’s market movements when the best action was to “resist action” and hold their course.