The Future of Client Communications

My 80 year old father recently sent me a letter. He had been trying to master email, but finally despaired and wrote to me instead in the way he had done throughout his life. Normally my mail consists of bills and brochures. But this letter really stood out as something remarkable - handwritten with a real stamp - a hallmark of a bygone era.

When was the last time any of us wrote or received a letter?

The way we communicate is undergoing profound transformation. Text messaging is replacing traditional conversation in many families. Whether we communicate through laptops, slates or smart phones, electronic communication is becoming pervasive. There are risks and rewards from this new chapter in communications implying profound changes in the way we develop, share and exchange information; even the way we work and play.

The rewards are clear - richer, and more frequent client conversations, better research, more informed insight, more accurate presentations. But the risks can be great as well. The information we create can be instantly shared through flash drives and across the internet.  Clients, markets and regulators are holding us more accountable for what we say and how we say it.   The one-off presentations produced in local offices that differ across the firm may become a distant memory particularly since even small differences in client communications can have regulatory implications, dilute brands and confuse clients and markets.

The world is changing at a dizzying rate. Client communications must be timely to add value but with current technology it can also be too costly and time consuming to develop frequently. A 100 page pitch book for a key client meeting may require data and content from many sites, sources and databases, much of it captured manually. What if the process could be automated, branding managed centrally and compliance built into the process in advance?

Enter Xinnovation, https://www.xinn.com, a Microsoft gold partner. Their XiDocs product automates the process of content creation whether a pitch book, fund fact sheet, investment review or even RFP and is available through laptops, slates or Windows Phone Seven. XiDocs is a product for its time, taking many of the risks out of client communications leaving us to enjoy the rewards that technology provides.