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Advertisement Experts believe an advisor’s success depends on his or her ability to develop strong sources of referrals — a goal technology can help advisors achieve. Recently, FundNET Systems Inc., a Saskatoon-based provider of online business solutions and e-business consulting services, conducted a survey on the ways advisors were coping in these difficult times. Derek Kortje, the firm’s sales and marketing co-ordinator, says that many advisors are not taking full advantage of the Internet and all it has to offer. One reason FundNET ran the survey was to measure how technology-ready advisors are, and to learn how to make the NetREP product more accessible. Unfortunately, FundNET found that many advisors only implement new ideas on a case-by-case basis, which leads to inefficiency in the long run. Most of the survey’s respondents were somewhat or not very technology-ready. Yet, the survey also showed that slightly more than 90% of advisors polled believe further contact with clients would increase their profits. So what is keeping advisors away from the Internet? Some are held back by perceived cost restrictions, while others may be concerned about security. However, Kortje adds, the Web can save advisors money, while encryption makes the technology very safe. Kortje believes working with the Web can bring an advisor immediate cost savings. If you are currently mailing a monthly statement to clients, for example, it’s taking both time and money. Sending statements by e-mail may raise questions of security, but you can make statements available to clients on a Web site so they can log in to a secure environment at any time and print out reports. Building a brand Another surprising finding of the survey was that only two-thirds of respondents agree that building their brand online would boost profitability. Kortje says that’s probably because many advisors don’t understand that they are selling themselves. The whole prospect of finding money and placing money is based on building strong, sustainable relationships — and building a brand is part of the equation. FundNET believes its NetREP Consolidated Online Client Statement Services package will help bridge the gap between advisors and clients. As an online client statement reporting package, NetREP takes data from popular front-office systems, such as RPM, PowerRep, Winfund or Client Manager. The data is matched with same-day pricing and made available to clients on the Internet; they can log in and view their statements. In the same view, advisors can also display their commentaries and recommendations. Most users of the system change their commentary every two to four weeks. With more than 1,600 advisors as clients, FundNET says that its NetREP online client statement service handles the statements of more than 170,000 investors who have more than $6 billion in assets. NetREP is easy to use and requires little work. Each morning you perform an upload of client data from your asset-management tracking system to the FundNET data servers. The FundNET servers then match client data with pricing data supplied by daily feeds from Fundata Canada Inc. Depending on the speed of your modem, this process should take only two or three minutes. Clients may also enjoy the daily market report and editorial provided by FundNET, along with fund charts, financial calculators and some mutual fund library features. There is also a quick-poll feature, in which you can post your own question to test clients’ opinions, or run a question supplied by FundNET, which is automatically changed every two weeks. Kortje says that this feature is an excellent prospecting tool. The program is easy to work and allows you to do some customization. NetREP’s biggest feature is its new pricing structure. In the past, the software was usually found only among the top 5% of advisors in any dealership. That was because of the upfront cost, which was in the $3,000 range. Late last year, the company recognized there was a broader base of potential users who could not afford the service. Now the strategy is to make NetREP accessible to as many advisors as possible, so it is available for a monthly fee. A minimum of $100 a month provides NetREP service for up to 100 clients. After that you pay only $1 for each additional client. FundNET says advisors’ reaction to the pricing change has been very positive. IE Read other news from our Building your Business Section