How Advisors Can Give Clients Amazon-Like Service

The world’s three renowned digital-platform giants — Apple, Amazon and Google — have, sort of, spoiled consumers. Indeed, when it comes to financial services firms, investors are craving that same simplicity and speed.

So says Brian Bichler, head of platform experience and a managing director at Atria Wealth Solutions, in an interview with ThinkAdvisor. “Clients have now built a benchmark in their minds that they want technology services in the same manner that Apple, Amazon and Google have established,” he argues.

To some extent, this is already here from firms such as Atria. “Technology [for financial services] in 2022 and beyond isn’t just cool and [offers] not just great service but [is] a blend of those in order to help financial professionals grow their business,” says Bichler, a 2022 ThinkAdvisor LUMINARIES award finalist in the category of executive leadership.

In the interview, he provides a peek inside Amazon’s construction, which has helped make the company super-successful. More than that, he highlights what types of technology and benefits clients want, and the top four tech capabilities advisors want, including linking up with “great [tech] partners in the wealth management industry.”

A specialist in designing and developing digital platforms for financial advisors and their clients, Bichler has been with Altria, which serves independent advisors, credit unions and banks, since 2018. 

Based in New York City and San Diego, he creates tools for Atria subsidiaries Sorrento Pacific Financial and CUSO Financial Services, a broker-dealer and registered investment advisor. His previous experience includes roles at Morgan Stanley, Fidelity and Goldman Sachs, among other firms.

ThinkAdvisor recently interviewed Bichler, who was speaking by phone from Salt Lake City. Addressing the “unprecedented level of change” in technology, he notes that “there are now more smart devices on the planet than people.”

Here are highlights of our interview:

THINKADVISOR: What do clients consider the most important things they want from technology to make them happy to use it?

BRIAN BICHLER: Clients have now built a benchmark in their minds that they want technology services in the same manner that Apple, Amazon and Google have established. 

They want a mobile app and a desktop experience that are simple and easy to use. They want to be able to go into those and take an action, like updating a piece of information. 

Also, they want to have more connectivity with their financial professionals through texting and video conferencing, in addition to face-to-face meetings and phone calls.

You just identified pressing buttons on a computer device as an “experience.” That makes it sound bigger than it is. What’s so experiential?

There are now more smart devices on the planet than people. The level of change in technology is unprecedented.

Technology [for financial services] in 2022 and beyond isn’t just cool technology and not just great service, but a blend of those in order to help financial professionals grow their business, build strong relationships and trust with clients, and have the insight to make decisions rapidly.

Is your firm providing those?

Yes. Our platform design isn’t a traditional financial services company design. It’s designed much more like a Silicon Valley company — Apple, Amazon or Google. 

It has a very simple user interface that people can work with without prior training. But it’s very sophisticated underneath in the type of algorithms and data that we present.

We’re the stewards of the data and have the ability to extend it to its full potential for [advisors] to run their business.

So is your platform experience as simple and fast as that of Amazon?

Yes. If you were to break down Amazon’s underlying parts, it’s actually composed of [numerous] smaller companies that play a role in the process of choosing a product, purchasing it and shipping it to your door.