The Magic List. Brandon Gadoci

decision as to whether or not to use a particular advisor is a decision that involves the highest level of “trust transferring,” because of the considerable downside to ineptitude.

      While the regulation that governs communication with the public has been updated over the years, regulating bodies are still trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, in my opinion. New media often falls into several of the existing categories of communication, all of which have different requirements with respect to approval, monitoring, and archiving. The most ironic part, in my opinion, is illustrated through a personal experience. I was recently asked to remove iTunes from my enterprise PC. I went to the regulatory bodies website to find out what rule iTunes may be violating and found my answer in a podcast. Brilliant.

      That said, the companies and advisors that will rise to the top will be the ones who can figure out how to employ these technologies, or versions of them, despite the regulations. I am not advocating breaking the rules. The regulators will be forced to evolve their regulation, or companies and innovators will find ways to satisfy them. These people will be the winners. As you can see, these tools and trends are not merely funny words, they are real things that connect with us on a very human level. If institutions will adopt and develop the technologies to enable their advisors to use methods of creating relationships that are far more efficient and effective, this will allow them to spend more time on their practice. More time doing the thing that they told the client they would do. Raising the level of advice and guidance, and ultimately giving the clients a better experience that will generate referrals. It is entirely possible to create these workflows, checks and balances, and digital protocols to satisfy the standards.

      Word of mouth advertising has been around for centuries and remains the most trusted way to create a relationship. Institutions need to find a way, now, to satisfy the regulatory standards that are prohibiting them from enabling their advisors to operate in this manner. The institution that adopts this mentality will benefit greatly in terms of client satisfaction and market share.