Paradigm shifts are driven by creativity and innovation. Innovation is attracted to and stimulated by inefficiencies in a big, lucrative marketplace, such as financial services. Recently, our industry has seen a growing number of innovations in how financial-services products are delivered to consumers.

Our brains have a set of built-in shortcuts that influence us every day.

Now’s the time to put the challenges of 2020 behind us and start the new year with a fresh perspective. While we can’t predict the future, we can break away from old behaviors and be intentional about our choices in the new year.

The events of 2020 remind us that life is complicated and fragile and that being prepared really does matter. Could this inspire you to become a character of great significance in the lives of your clients because of how you comfort, lead and inspire them?

Why is it hard to get clients to take preventative action to protect themselves from real and measurable risks?

It seems like ages ago that our firms closed their doors and we scrambled to set up home offices. We weren’t sure what challenges lay ahead, and the market took our breath away in those first intense weeks. But while we don’t like having to cope with a disaster, human beings tend to do well in a crisis and to adapt quickly to massive disruptions.

Videoconferencing is becoming routine, mundane and overused. Here are tips for looking and sounding your best on a video call so that your audience stays engaged and you can rock that call.

The best reason to conduct a virtual meeting is to motivate some kind of action. This means that a well-managed meeting is always moving toward a clear and specific close. There are six steps to a meeting’s flow that will help you “keep your close on.”

One of the biggest differences between live and virtual meetings is the importance of visual illustrations. Virtual interactions are the perfect medium for using pictures to support a sales presentation. In fact, illustrations can make the difference between a successful encounter and a waste of time.

Cut off from meeting in person. Reliant on videoconferencing. Trying to stay interesting and relevant. Advisors are searching for ways to be useful to clients and prospects. Here are four techniques that can help.

Virtual meetings significantly reduce the role of social instincts, and attendees often feel the freedom to multitask or disengage. However, by taking a proactive approach, you can keep virtual meetings on track.

Virtual meetings are inherently different from face-to-face encounters, largely because they eliminate many of the social obligations that deeply influence interpersonal behaviors. Experience with conducting virtual meetings in a variety of contexts has revealed that they are typically harder to manage than live meetings.

The new normal—working from home and curtailed travel—is painful for extroverts. Conducting virtual meetings using videoconferencing makes people seem less real, and extroverts crave the physical presence of others. While you may prefer to be face-to-face with your clients, this blog may convince you of the benefits of virtual meetings.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted an advisor’s ability to prospect for new business. But with turbulent markets, clients may be willing to consider a new financial relationship. Recognize this opportunity and offer an immediate, problem-solving approach: the Financial Uncertainty Preparedness Checklist.

The term “new normal” now widely applies to everyone’s lives. One facet is attending virtual meetings. It’s our view that web-based conversations are here to stay because they are better than live interactions. Here is a list of 10 reasons why your clients prefer virtual meetings.

Many human decisions are driven by impulses known as heuristics, such as the simple-and-familiar bias. When mental energy is depleted, as during a crisis, advisors may employ this bias to select investment solutions that are easy to explain (simple) and that they’ve used before (familiar).

As an advisor, you have protective instincts, so COVID-19 is likely to activate your emotions and push your thinking toward extremes. Your brain is probably searching the world for dangers and building a decidedly negative worldview. Psychologists call this catastrophizing: seeing the future in a negative light. This reduces your ability to sort available information.

Working from home is the new normal for most of us these days. Are you taking mindful action to take advantage of opportunities presented by today’s environment?

Television remains one of the most influential distributors of information and ideas, yet the majority of Americans distrust the reports they get from TV. This distrust may stem from the fact that there is a lot of fear in the news today. How can advisors help clients make sense of the news and help them get back on rational footing?