This month I had the pleasure of welcoming many of our industry’s leading thinkers to Legal & General’s second ever virtual summer conference.

While it was the second since our switch away from in-person, in many ways it was the first time we had conducted the event in a way that felt fully adjusted – after all, last time around we were still working through the crisis and  very much understanding how to navigate our ‘new normal’.

The event represents so much for us as a business because we are adamant about being more than a transaction point between advisers and lenders. We want to bring real value to our industry, especially the many advisers and lenders that have worked so hard since the crisis began to ensure customers continued to receive a great service.

At this years’ event we focused on providing insights that could help our attendees to embrace change and build resilience. It feels like the right time to be talking about the future as we are starting to see the tail end of the frenzied period where many thousands rushed to complete in time for the stamp duty holiday.

Before we know it, the market will look very different and now is the perfect time to make strategic decisions about what is next. Critical to this for advisers is bringing the outside in by soaking up just what it is that customers and other businesses are saying.

Looking back

I was fortunate enough to speak with Lloyds Banking Group’s Esther Dijkstra on the first day. Esther spent the first six months in her new position at Lloyds helping to navigate the start of the crisis – talk about a baptism of fire. She shared some brilliantly insightful thoughts about how customer needs have changed forever and that for advisers, there should not be an expectation that customer demands will return to how they were before.

People now need more certainty and support and advisers have an opportunity provide this. In that sense, advisers need to be ready to tackle non-standard cases, where people have suffered financially due to the crisis.

There are just so many more people with niche needs that it seems a certainty. Technology is on the side of the adviser here and using it to gain access to a wide range of lender options will be key to pairing clients with the best mortgage for them. I would encourage anyone with reservations about this to speak with their club or network – we’re here to help.

Esther also reminded me of just how busy we’ve all been. She mentioned that Lloyds completed over £9bn in transactions in June, its most ever – and we also had a record month. However, that could have been the last record-breaking month for some time.

If we really are over the hill, advisers now need a new strategy. No longer can business just be about packaging cases. More will be required to ensure the continued growth. A clear focus on repeat business and helping customers to avoid standard variable rates will be critical.

Looking forward

I believe that advisers should be planning for ways to adapt to changing customer requirements and also using this time to work on their business rather than simply in it.

For months activity levels have been so high that it’s been tough for many to take in other considerations such as return customers, new tools and services, and marketing. With demand likely to soften – and it will be a softening rather than a cliff edge – advisers should have more time on their hands for strategic thinking of this type.

The first step to futureproofing a business may well be the exploration of new technology. We know the crisis has turbocharged customer’s use of technology, with Legal & General’s research uncovering that 75% of advisers have seen an uplift in clients using their digital tools – but there are benefits for advisers themselves. Previously, some advisers have looked at technology as a barrier, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Technology is the answer to improving the way we convey advise – it is not about displacing it.

Finally, we took time to explore diversity and inclusion. This is becoming ever more important to our customers and something that I believe is incredibly important to understand and embrace. Ami has launched an initiative on this subject and I plead with you to complete the survey to allow us to understand where we are now and start to explore ways to move forward.

Our event message was hopefully clear to those who joined, and we do strongly believe that to navigate the emerging market in an effective way, our community needs to embrace change and build resilience.

The crisis has provided valuable learning opportunities and taught us how adaptable and innovative we can be. Let’s continue on this positive path.