Inspired by Monday's infograph (see below) featured on Mashable, this seems like a good time to take a look at how financial advisors can benefit from Skype. During the past couple years, Skype has rolled out some useful features that give it the potential to be a powerful tool for businesses.
As a financial advisor, you are more than familiar with the sometimes tedious task of booking client meetings to accommodate both yourself, and your client. Whether clients come to your office, or you visit them, someone has to make a trip, which may be an inconvenience.
Instead of always trying to arrange in-person meetings, you may want to think about occasionally hosting your client meetings via Skype. The beauty of Skype, is that it offers completely free Skype-to-Skype video calls. For your clients that already have the necessary components (microphone, webcam), encouraging them to create a free Skype account is something that could save you both some time.
Once a video call has been initiated, you have the opportunity to share you desktop screen with your client. The significance of this, is that you will be able to show them their portfolio, while vocally explaining what they are seeing, just like you would do during a regular client meeting. Also, if you had some documents prepared for your client, Skype offers file sharing from directly inside the application, so you can send your documents while you have your client's attention.
In an ideal world, all client meetings would be held in person, but not everyone has the time to make this happen. As your client base grows, and your available time becomes more and more limited, incorporating Skype Video Calls into your business plan has the potential to get you some of your time back.
Although Skype Video Calling may be a good solution for some, it won't work for everyone. You wouldn't want to recommend Skype Video Calling to a client who just walked in your door, as you may come across as lazy and impersonal, but it is something that you could initiate with clients who you know are comfortable with you, and fully trust you. This way, your request will be received the way you intended.
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