Digital tools have played a more crucial role in helping financial advisors and other professionals make the most out of their work setup, whether work-from-home, remote, hybrid or onsite. Four financial advisors from the Philippines share their tried and tested tools and techniques that are still relevant and helpful two years later into the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Google Calendar: Manage work-life balance 

“I’ve always taken Google Calendar for granted until a colleague re-introduced it to me by sharing how productive his days have become by using it. I was much intrigued, so I gave it another try,” Val Domingo, a five-year MDRT member, said. “To my surprise, it acts like a personal assistant who reminds me of my next meeting, whether with a client, my team, or a training session — synced on the web and mobile. It’s also handy to have a team calendar to visualize our monthly activities easily. The best part is I can block off time for myself and my family to enjoy the things we love doing together, without any schedule conflicts.” 

Facebook ads: Boost your prospects while focusing on what truly matters. 

“Just when I thought gathering prospects would be quite challenging amid the pandemic, it became easier when I learned about Facebook ads,” according to Luviminda Sacro, a two-year MDRT member. “One day amid the lockdowns, I was scrolling through my feed when a colleague’s ad appeared to me, and I thought of putting up one for myself. I run several ads on Facebook, supported by ManyChat, a messenger marketing platform, which helps me reach and engage my target audience without micromanagement. While I already practiced posting organically on my Facebook page, I’ve learned in my research that the average engagement of an organic post is just about 0.07% which may be why I barely receive a lead. But ever since I’ve put up my ads, people have just been chatting on my Facebook page, inquiring about the various products that I offer and engaging my previous clients without me messaging them. I receive an average range of 10-20 personal messages a day due to the ads. It saves me time on prospecting and allows me to focus on other aspects of the business. Facebook ads are an investment in growth and expansion. Facebook ads work well for advisors like me because Facebook is very popular in the Philippines.” 

Canva: Create a more effective presentation that will close a sale.  

“When everyone shifted to virtual calls at the start of the pandemic, I knew it would become more difficult to capture the attention of my clients on-screen,” Annalee De Guia, a nine-year MDRT member, said. “I heavily relied on observing my client’s body language during meetings to gauge their engagement with me. However, social cues are highly restricted on video calls. I had to find another way to make my presentations interesting. While researching, I learned about Canva, an online design and publishing tool. I liked how they have a wide selection of templated designs for presentations, social media posts, and anything else you’d need. While I don’t have a background in design, Canva makes my presentations easier to navigate and lets my inputs be more organized and appealing to the eye. It increases engagement on video calls, and in effect, helps me close a sale.” 

Google Docs: Convenient servicing with easy access and easy-to-follow instructions 

Mike Advincula, a five-year MDRT member, shared that “around 40% of my clients are between 45 to 50 who know how to navigate online. When it comes to our insurance company’s website, the common questions include forgetting their username or password, how to explore the company website for their account information and status updates, and how to request their billing statement. When I realized these were the recurring roadblocks to my clients in the new normal, I created a Google Docs file filled with simple and easy-to-follow instructions that help them with frequently asked questions. Now, whenever they reach out to me, I refer them first to this document. My troubleshooting document complements our company website’s FAQs section because it’s in layman’s terms and more specific, which my clients appreciate.” 

Contact: MDRTeditorial@teamlewis.com