Technology Stack: Tech and Tools Financial Planners Need with Lyle Greig (Episode 115)

Chris Schwager: Welcome to the Video Made Simple podcast where we help take the mystery out of video and break through the monotony of day to day communication for marketers, entrepreneurs and clients. Watch and listen to the world's best video strategists, business leaders, and communication experts to supercharge the way you sell market and teach.

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[00:01:10] Chris Schwager: Hello, video marketing professionals. Welcome to the podcast that takes the mystery out of producing videos. And this is a special episode for the financial services industry. If you are a planner, broker funds manager, this is gonna be a great episode for you, particularly if you are falling behind with technology, ghosting the world and not able to streamline your business, then this is gonna be really great.

[00:01:32] I'm your host, Chris Schwager, by the way. And also joining this week by my very special school mate from 36 years ago, Brendan Southall. How are Brendan?

[00:01:43] Brendan Southall: Oh, excellent. Thank you, Chris. Yeah, so that makes us sound very old, isn't it? 36 plus years. Oh my gosh.

[00:01:49] Chris Schwager: It does. How long did it take, you to figure out technology in your business Brendan?

[00:01:54] Brendan Southall: I guess it took absolutely forever and I think it's still going, you know, the, the amount of research involved in working out all the different types of software and how it all integrates, what needs to integrate, what doesn't CRM, accounting software, project management. Oh my gosh. It was an absolute minefield. So hopefully Lyle can, share some wisdom around that.

[00:02:16] Chris Schwager: Well, today our guest is Lyle Greig, someone I've known for almost 36 years. He's an old school mate of ours. We've followed his career as a financial advisor since 2003, where he became Certified Financial Advisor in his business called Living Financial Advice, specialising in retirement planning.

[00:02:36] I've always admired Lyle's use of technology to improve his client experience. And I'm sure his peers have as well, I had to have him on the show. And he's recently presented his technology stack at the Court Financial State conference earlier in this year. And as you may have guessed Lyle's also a DIY Video Program client.

[00:03:00] So we love him even more so to talk about his experience as an early adopter of new technologies in his financial services business, and to present his tech stack to us, he's our chat with Lyle Greig.

[00:03:22] Lyle Greig: Technology stack at the end of the day is really just bringing different pieces of technology together. I think everyone's got one. It's just about whether or not you've documented it. So technically speaking, it's really just bringing technologies together. And I guess the key is really integration.

[00:03:39] you know, many IT professionals will probably say a technology stack, everything needs to be seamlessly integrated. But at the small business level and, you know, I suppose a local financial planning practice, it's really about just hogging different pieces of technology together as best you can. I suppose technology stack is, is something I've sort of looked at other financial planning practices.

[00:03:58] It's been interesting to see what other planners do. Like I just love learning from peers. It's probably the best way to learn and often you'd see these diagrams and it was just a great way to get ideas and look at different pieces of tech that other people are using trialing that might not be suitable for you.

[00:04:13] But, but yeah, definitely trying to get some ideas. I had to put this diagram together for the account financial state conference. So I thought it'd be, you know, maybe a good idea to share it with you guys as well.

[00:04:22] Chris Schwager: Why, why do you think fin services need to consider creating their own tech stack?

[00:04:27] Lyle Greig: Every business needs to really it's. I, I just like the fact that you document it, so, you know, you put it through, um you know, like a diagram I, I used at lucid chart. And so it was really hard to get started. Like the first step is always the hardest, I think, in, in most projects, but once it got started, You know, I pulled it all together.

[00:04:44] You have to sort of put things in different orders or different tiers, but it was a really great exercise just to map it out, you know, to sort of see where it was. So, you know, you're giving yourself a bit of an inventory of what technology you're using. You're also gives you a chance to control costs, cuz it can get a little bit outta hand pretty quick.

[00:05:01] Chris Schwager: Yeah.

[00:05:01] Lyle Greig: I mean I love my tech.

[00:05:02] Chris Schwager: Yeah.

[00:05:03] Lyle Greig: I love the next shiny thing. So that's really difficult. And just gives you clarity on how it fits into your business.

[00:05:08] Chris Schwager: So Liz is charting your tech stack?

[00:05:11] Lyle Greig: No, it's not actually really, no, it, it sits outside, but it is inside the, the show notes or whatever. So yeah, we will be able to give you a copy of the, of my tech stack along with, you know, descriptions and additional pieces of technology.

[00:05:24] Chris Schwager: What are the key considerations then when you're building a tech stack?

[00:05:27] Lyle Greig: Well, I guess, I guess you'd start with your core software. I know that's pretty obvious, but that, that would be the center, I suppose, of your diagram or your tech stack. and most businesses, I guess not just financial planning practices, but most businesses probably centers around a, a CRM. But that CRM might have other key functions like for us, you know, that would be X plan. So X plan is probably the, the got the biggest market share, you know, in the financial planning sector, which means they don't have a lot of incentive to be innovative if you know what I mean.

[00:05:55] And so at that point, you know, it can be quite difficult, to sort of put together, you know, the, a true sort of client experience that you want to give. And so at that point, you normally need to sort of plug in other pieces of technology that can sort of assist you to, to improve the client experience.

[00:06:13] Chris Schwager: So this is a video show. So let's talk about some video because you are not new to video. You've produced content for years now, but mainly professional content, but also some of your own, you know, iPhone style content. And then most recently you've now come on as a DIY client, which kind of renders the iPhone to a certain degree, a bit redundant from a video perspective because you, you show up so much better. And if you're looking at this, on YouTube, you'll see exactly what I mean.

[00:06:41] How are you using video in your business right now?

[00:06:44] Lyle Greig: I'd use video in the past. I've done a lot of, sort of monthly sort of newsletters, but you're right. It was sort of, you know, the iPhone on the, on the tripod. Maybe a plugin mic, you know, a couple of lights and sort of tried to bring it all together.

[00:06:54] But, I remember you telling me Chris, that “that's good Lyle, but you know, keep going with it” And, you were right, eventually, it became all too hard. and I sort of gave it up unfortunately, and it all sort of, you know, went into hiatus for a couple of years, but now I guess, yeah, video was a big part of my business. Um.

[00:07:10] First and foremost, I guess it's client meetings. You know, especially since COVID so, so everyone sort of gravitated towards this video meeting, you know, originally it was Skype, wasn't it, but now Zoom, or MS Teams or Google Meets, whatever. so that's a big part of what I'm doing. so with clients, you know, they, they generally prefer the face to face.

[00:07:28] That was, you know, even the die hards are like, no, I definitely want face to face have now gravitated towards video meeting. It's just so convenient, you know? So they'll be sitting in their kitchen. Don't have to sort of drive up to the office and find a park and all that sort of caper.

[00:07:42] And I guess clients are more confident now. So in the past, yeah, they might have had experience with Skype if they had a child overseas for an extended period of time, but everyone had a crack at it

[00:07:51] Chris Schwager: What's Skype? Is that in your tech stack?

[00:07:55] Lyle Greig: No, definitely not. So why am I saying yeah? Anyway,

[00:07:59] The other thing too, is my client base is predominantly retirees and so what do they do? They often move out of Sydney. And so, you know, they're going to warmer climates up the, you know, up the north coast or Queensland, or I've actually now got a bit of a cohort in Perth. So this whole video meeting like done professionally, you know, with a DIY studio is just, it's just vital now.

[00:08:19] So, you know, if I've got a handful of clients in Perth, you know, there's a bit of anxiety that one day they're gonna go, oh, you know what, Lyle? It's probably easier just to go to a financial planner over here in Perth, but if I'm sort of, you know, up in my game, as far as video meetings are concerned, then you know, I guess I don't really have that as a problem.

[00:08:35] I would argue that some of these video meetings sometimes gives a better experience than face to face. I know that's debatable, but, but you know, you, you're often more inclined to do screen sharing and things like that. Mm. And I think you can really sort of, really sort of up the ante and just the whole experience of not, not, not having to sort of, you know, sort of, like I said before, park the car, all that sort of KPI, and it's also risk mitigation.

[00:08:56] So if clients are going out and their business and are trying to avoid COVID or flu or whatever. you know, you're not having to come to my office just lowers their risk. You know, they might prefer to sort of still do their shopping, but not necessarily come to me face to face.

[00:09:11] I'm also using, I guess, monthly videos. So working with you guys, to put it together, you know, a monthly newsletter. And so my past experience was, you know, it was pretty clunky to sort of put together, but now with, you know, you know, flick a switch, you know, record it, upload the video, Ridge Films and their team can sort of edit it, come back with graphics and all that sort of stuff. It's just, it's just gonna streamline it and make it so much easier for me to throw together sort of one to two minute sort of videos monthly, and hopefully more frequently that in, in the future.

[00:09:42] Chris Schwager: A lot of our financial services clients are now starting to use video as a essential now, like, whereas back in the day, they were demanding to have face to face meetings. Get clients to come to, to them all the time. Now they're demanding to have video calls and which is a complete flip. But what they're realising is that they're able to save so much more time as a result. So A's are a thing. Then all of a sudden the entire business is very much shifted into this sharp, you know, time efficient, you know, structured business that that is, is not only servicing the client better, but saving like weeks over a year, of of time. So is, is that something that you've also, doing or are you inheriting that at some point?

[00:10:33] Lyle Greig: Yeah, absolutely. I think like every business is looking for efficiencies, you know, like, you know, automation and all these sort of buzzwords, get us all excited. Cause we're looking for time back in our diary, but I think, it'd be fair to say financial services is definitely trying to get time back, you know, since the Royal Commission and a lot of the different things that we now need to do without sort of getting into that. and sort of also, you know, the reduced number of financial planners, you know, across Australia means that, you know, the average financial planning firm is probably gonna have an increase, you know, in number of clients. So any efficiency that video can sort of give back to you is obviously, you know, something that we want. you know, so you've got the one to one. So I guess, you know, you, you're doing one to one meetings with clients and telephone calls and all that sort of stuff, but video can then supplement, I guess, the, the business model of one to many.

[00:11:21] So that's not necessarily saying, oh, I've got a subscription service and I've got all these people that are watching my videos. It's, it's more about complimenting or supplementing, I guess, full service clients with videos during the year. So, you know, one, some clients might have an annual review, some might have two a year, so, it's good to get in front of them.

[00:11:43] You know, as far as, you know, you know, a video newsletter, you know, throughout the year, if, if, if you're in, you know, 10 videos over the year, they still feel like they're talking to you. If you know what I mean, it's just, it's just a great way to engage the client.

[00:11:55] Chris Schwager: Okay. So what are the relevant discoveries about using video? Can financial planners or marketers be aware of? Like what, what is some of the things that they made? I mean, everybody , we know as well as you, that, video has its, multitude of, of steps to, to, in order to create content. What's it like for you?

[00:12:18] Lyle Greig: I suppose my, my journey is now let's do it properly. You know, so you see a lot of experts and people out there, you know, possibly interviewed on TV.

[00:12:26] Yet, they're still doing it with a laptop camera and maybe small earphones. And I just think, you know, with, you know, the cost of technology these days, we, we can do better. and so I think, yeah, have a plan, you know, basically. How are you gonna use video? you know, come to a point where, you know, it's, it's gotta be as common as maybe an email in the future is what I'm sort of predicting.

[00:12:46] other discoveries or learnings I suppose, is scripting. So I know rich films is really big on scripting, but I think scripting, or at least a loose script. I think is really good for recorded videos. I mean, if you're doing a, you know, a client meeting, you may not be doing that. but you know, talking off the cuff, to the camera is great.

[00:13:03] If you're a really experienced, invest, presenter, but, you know, just cuz you've done a few seminars and workshops doesn't mean you can necessarily talk to camera, you know, and be succinct also with financial services. You gotta be really com careful with compliance and what you say. And often, if you sort of transcribe a seminar or a workshop, or even a client meeting, you know, sometimes you misspeak, you miss words, and that's really crucial when it comes to financial services.

[00:13:29] You don't wanna get yourself into trouble. So as much as you can put up disclaimers and general advice warnings and all that sort of stuff, you really wanna be hitting your mark on what you're trying to say. And, not, not sort of, you know, inadvertently mislead clients or viewers.

[00:13:44] Well, we'll be back in a short moment with our friend Lyle.

[00:13:47] Chris Schwager: Greg, are your DIY videos holding you back? Are they as professional as you'd like nowadays video is everything. And there's a more streamlined way to present yourself professionally on video rather than an unprofessional looking webcam. And you can do it from the convenience of your desk. It's called the DIY Video Program.

[00:14:09] Go to ridgefilms.com.au/diy and check it out. The DIY Video Program is hardware, video coaching and editing that allows you to create course content, send personalised sales, videos, and emails, record regular video updates for social media and look and sound amazing in every video interaction with a single push of a button. It really is solving a problem for so many people producing their own content. You get professional lights, sound, camera, teleprompter, and all the skills you need to supercharge the way you sell, market, and teach in your business. So if you need to improve the quality of your videos, then go to ridgefilms.com.au/diy.

[00:14:55] So Lyle, do you have any rock bottom stories of you producing your own video content back in the day?

[00:15:01] Lyle Greig: Yeah, I guess, I guess so like one, one of the things, with my sort of previous studio, you know, with the iPhone and all that, the sun had to be in a certain place in the office before I could actually, you know, do it. So there'd be this window in the afternoon where I could maybe cobble together a video. you know, quite often I'd be in the boardroom, I'd be disturbed by other staff members. You know, the lights wouldn't work, you know, it just, I don't know, just technology things, you know, trying to bring it all together was very, very difficult.

[00:15:27] Chris Schwager: That's why we don't like natural light with the DIY Video Program, because you can shoot any time of the day, day, or night and still get this exact look. And, and it's what you're seeing there from Lyle is exactly the way that we've installed it pretty much, which is awesome. Um.

[00:15:40] So what are the plans for the future using videos in the business?

[00:15:43] Lyle Greig: Oh, look like I said before, I guess the video newsletters is something, you know, I'm gonna get back into or have got back into. So. It's not necessarily market, you know, investment market updates either. So that might be the first inclination of a financial advisor to sort of start going on about that. And that's fine. Like, I'm not saying I haven't done those.

[00:15:59] But I find I get greater engagement from clients when it's just general money topics. So I sort of call it, you know, money magazine style topics, you know, hints and tips. So right now I've got a script that I'm about to record, which is really about how to save costs in energy, you know, so, you know, referring them to, to different resources, so real life stuff that they can sort of implement to save money.

[00:16:19] The other thing I wanna sort of get into is like an online course. So I've got like lots of different content and things that I can sort of draw on from my financial, licensee, which is already sort of preapproved. And if I can just sort of, reimagine that into an online course, you know, videos, you know, summaries, bullet points, quizzes, all that sort of stuff. So to be able to do that with the DIY studio is, is, is very doable. So I'm actually gonna get my staff involved in that.

[00:16:45] So it's gonna be a real, sort of, I reckon a prefund project to sort of put together. It's not, it's not gonna be easy, but I can tell you the video, the video part of that is gonna be so much easier with, with this sort of studio. and then I guess.

[00:16:58] Then, I guess the, the final one is the, the, the, what I would call the true video financial plan. So I know in a previous, podcast that you did Chris with one of your other clients, you know, he, as a financial advisor was presenting the statement of advice as a summary within a video, which is awesome. fantastic. And that was saving him a lot of time as far as meetings and that was concerned.

[00:17:20] But the Financial Planning Association, in conjunction with a financial firm that's actually done this, is taking it to next level. So they're what they're trying to do is move away from, I guess, a paper based financial plan, or a PDF or whatever you wanna call it and actually have it as a true video. So of course we're still gonna do all the working papers and the strategy and all that sort of stuff behind the scenes. But when we actually present it to the client, it could be as simple as, a dozen slides explaining what the advice is, but there needs to be a pretty regimented structure around it to ensure that we're still compliant with the law. So the Financial Planner Association sat down with the regulators and, you know, I guess they've got sort of indicative sign off on this. So that is contingent on my licensee allowing it, but that is a medium to long term thing that I'm pretty excited about to be able to give, you know, piecemeal advice, through video, instead of putting together a hundred page financial plan. So.

[00:18:13] Chris Schwager: Yeah. Sounds like a game changer. We are obviously sharing the same love for video and how much of an influence it's had in terms of efficiencies and just doing things better and being more human and personalised and more helpful.

[00:18:26] What are the favorite technologies other than video in your Tech Stack?

[00:18:31] Lyle Greig: Well, of course the DIY Studio number one, but no, but no, I, I love Calendly. So Calendly is an appointment scheduling. I know rich films use it, so I don't know how anyone functions in business now without some sort of appointment scheduling, if you're not doing it, please do it. There's also a Microsoft bookings option, but Calendly, I think. Pretty good.

[00:18:51] I love Click Send for SMS messages, so that's always good. Just as a, to compliment our communication channels with clients. It's always good to give 'em a bit of a nudge to sort of say, Hey, I need you to do X, Y, Z, or whatever. Um.

[00:19:02] DocuSign for electronic signatures. since superannuation funds have now accepted electronic signatures, that's been a bit of a game changer for us. DocuSign is quite expensive, so there's another option called Annature. And so Annature is like an Australian based, digital signature and you know, much, much cheaper. So that's, that's been great.

[00:19:22] I love Dragon Dictation. So I've got that on my, phone as well as on my, laptop. And so that, that enables me to do detailed file notes. So most of my file notes are just sort of bullet points, but at times after the initial meeting or what we call a fact find meeting, it's really great to sort of refer to maybe your handwritten bullet notes and then just talk. Just talk. Tell the story and that, that, that sort of dictation and allows you to do that, to get that, that really good subject matter for the client file.

[00:19:49] and another one I've been playing around with is Microsoft stream video platform. And so, you know, what we are using that for is more about, business processes. So I've managed to sort of integrate, Microsoft stream into Ms. Teams chat. So it's just like a, a menu at the top. And so what I can do is I can record screen, share videos with me, sort of in the bottom corner, talking about it, saying to my staff, Hey, this is how you do, this process, step one, step two, step three. And so I think that's pretty cool.

[00:20:21] There's also, tango is, is a good, sort of, technology platform to, to do processes. But I do like Microsoft stream because yeah, we know that the, the, the, the videos are sort of domiciled in Australia. sometimes there is client sensitive information, so I'm sort of big on that.

[00:20:40] Chris Schwager: That is a whopping list of staff. It's actually inspired me to, to put our own tech stack together now. Brendan, do you have anything to add to the wonderful Lyle Greig?

[00:20:51] Brendan Southall: Mr. Greig,

[00:20:52] Lyle Greig: Mr. Greig?

[00:20:53] Brendan Southall: yeah,

[00:20:54] Lyle, I guess, you know, it's, it's obviously working for you because I've. We're, we're recording this two days out from end of financial year, which is historically an absolute crazy period for you. So yeah, clearly it's, it's doing its job. It's both, you know, doing internal efficiencies and I, I guess, yeah. I'd like to know how are the, the clients really responding to all of this? Do they notice?

[00:21:16] Lyle Greig: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. There's sometimes a bit self conscious about their sort of video set up, but, yeah, whether they do make a comment or it's just. I don't know, subliminal. They, they, you know, you're coming across as, you know, very professional. That's what it is. I mean, at the end of the day, you know, you gotta invest in your tech it's you know, if you, particularly now, like with, you know, the office, I mean, is, is the office now dead? You know? So if, if it is, and you're sort of working from home or a service office or something like that, then I think investing in, in the video and, and taking it to next level is just vital these days.

[00:21:47] Brendan Southall: And is that the same for all the other tech that you're using?

[00:21:50] Lyle Greig: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, to me, it's all about trying to reduce the friction points. So, you know, anything I can do with a client to, to make it better for them because you're being benchmarked against, you know, a lot of other businesses these days. So if you think about how easy it is to get, you know, an Uber ride share or Uber eats or something like that, or, you know, internet banking and how all that sort of comes together. No, we're not, we're not a listed company. I know, but at the end of the day, we're still a service. So, you know, we wanna try and sort of compete at that level of being easy to deal with.

[00:22:20] Brendan Southall: And if you're not growing, you're dying.

[00:22:23] Lyle Greig: Yeah, that's it. That's it mate, that's it? Absolutely. Yeah. I, I always worry. As I get older, I don't wanna become a dinosaur, you know, and, you know, I've, I've worked with other people in the past where you just see, oh my God, you know, they can barely turn on a computer or they just don't adapt.

[00:22:38] And, you know, with all the disruption in the world these days, you know, with business and so forth, I just, yeah, sometimes it's like, no, I've gotta keep up with this. But I enjoy it. It's fun. It's, it's almost like a hobby. Maybe I should get a life, but sort of like, I. I just see, oh, this is just fun. You know, trying to pull these things together to, to, to, to make you know, business better and make clients, you know, lives are easier, I guess.

[00:23:01] Brendan Southall: Yeah. And you've always been an innovator in that space, you know, very much leading edge. And is that, has that been able to help you kind of been on that knife edge or is it a case of sometimes, you know, wait for the technology to catch up to you?

[00:23:14] Lyle Greig: Oh, look, I don't know. I don't really think I innovate. I mean, at the end of the day, I'm just looking at what other people are doing, taking the pieces that I like and bringing it together in my own way. So yeah, maybe you could say it's a little bit innovative, but it's not really, let's be honest. It's not like I'm sort of doing anything that other people aren't doing.

[00:23:31] I'm just keeping up,

[00:23:31] Chris Schwager: you haven't invented the iPhone.

[00:23:38] Lyle Greig: That's it.

[00:23:38] But, but I'm just trying to be better than the next, the next player, I guess.

[00:23:42] Chris Schwager: But I think that's, that's Brendan's point though. I mean, there's so few that. You know, would take the time to implement processes with the technology that would enable these things to be more streamlined and, and remain consistent with it, right? That's the, that's the key here and that, I think that's in itself is the sort of the part of innovation. You know, it's like, it may not seem, like much, but having the tool is one thing, but they're not repeating the process and actually making it useful for your business is another. And so I think, you know, we, we are even in, in our, our clientele, seeing the different types of businesses and, you know, some don't even use email templates, for instance, you know, some, some real basic stuff that could, could certainly save loads of time for these people. So yeah.

[00:24:31] Brendan Southall: I was talking to a client a couple of days ago, and they still had their client list on a Excel spreadsheet. That blew me away. Like how, how have they not got a CRM to help manage all of that now? That's that's prehistoric Lyle.

[00:24:45] Chris Schwager: Well, well, when the, probably if they've only got like some, some of these guys have only got a client list of like 70 people though, right? Like, is that, is that about right? Like, what's your, how, how many clients do you have Lyle?

[00:24:55] Lyle Greig: I've got about 200 client groups, right? So yeah. So husband and wife would. Regarded as yeah. One. So that's, that's a relatively high number in financial services. Yeah. But I've got, I've got an associate advisor, a client service manager and a client service officer and then outsource power planter. So I've got that team behind me and, and I guess, yeah. And all the efficiency that the tech stack enabled me to sort of pull it all together.

[00:25:18] But you, you know, what really blows me away with a lot of this technology is some of it's free, you know, or a lot of it is free or, you know, there is sort of like an entry level version of it. you know, the barriers to sort of start a business these days are just so low. Like if you think about, you know, back in the nineties or something like that, you know, to start a business, you know, it's pretty difficult to do really. But these days you could be sitting on your phone and literally create a business. Yeah. with a whole, and, and with all quite often free software.

[00:25:45] Chris Schwager: I agree.

[00:25:46] To your point Brendan too. So, so you don't feel all alone down there.

[00:25:53] Brendan Southall: Dear me.

[00:25:54] Chris Schwager: If you had a Rolodex, if you had a Rolodex, I'd be worried, right? But a spreadsheet, I can, I can, I can deal with.

[00:26:02] Brendan Southall: Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's always the case of getting whatever works for your business at the end of the day, isn't it? And, and spreadsheets are okay, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just managing all those little interactions. You know, there's 70 clients times, you know, two or three interactions and all of a sudden you've got a hundred plus different, you know, points to manage.

[00:26:21] Lyle Greig: We still use spreadsheets, unfortunately. You know, we sort of drag them out of, you know, our CRM and we're trying to convert some of those into sort of workflow software, but I haven't really nailed which one I want to use. And our core CRM X plan is sort of upping their game with workflows. you know, they're releasing something else. It all comes down to my, my head office sort of organising that. but yeah, sometimes yeah, sometimes still need spreadsheets, but it shouldn't, it shouldn't be a source of truth, right? That's yeah. And there's CRMs out there.

[00:26:53] Chris Schwager: Well, let's wrap this up. What are your top five tips when developing a tech stack Mr. Greig?

[00:27:00] Lyle Greig: Well, number one, I would say investing in, in investing your tech. So, you know, it's a tool of trade. Don't be a tight ass. So it's not, it's not necessarily like a percentage of turnover is what your technology should be. You know, it's just, it's just fully integrated into everything we sort of do now.

[00:27:15] second, second tip would be do your research. So, you know, always limitations in these different pieces of technology and, and don't believe the hype, you know, so you often see these things on the internet, or you might get a demo. And they promise the world and sometimes deliver an Atlas. So I'm not trying to be too negative, but I'm just saying, just be cautious. Do your research before you're launch into something.

[00:27:35] Mentioned this before, number three would be reduce your friction points. So think about, you know, the client or user experience, you know, Calendly, you know, SMS, you know, video, online questionnaires, all that sort of stuff adds to the client experience.

[00:27:50] Fourth would be improve your video hardware. So, you know, you know, just like I said before, you know, the camera in your laptop and your headphones, probably not good enough these days. So often it's was it Chris? It's it's the lighting and, and, and the audio is probably more important than the video, but in, in any case, you know, there's, there's options out there. Including the DIY studio.

[00:28:11] And then the final one is review your cyber security. So this is really topical at the moment. So, yes, we've got a good managed, service provider for our IT, so we sort of outsource that. But we're also sort of engaging cyber, security experts to sort of fill the gaps and, yeah, making sure that, you know, our client data is safe.

[00:28:31] So, you know, financial services, we've got a lot of sensitive data and being a small business, we might not necessarily have the budget normally. But there are ways to sort of, you know, improve your cyber security without breaking the bank. So outsource for expertise, I've seen a few, few planners that try and do it themselves, and they're probably more tech savvy than me, but really, you don't know what you don't know. There is so much now the essential eight by the cyber security was Australian cyber security center. you know, is, is a good place to start.

[00:29:00] Chris Schwager: Well, thanks so much for. Giving us half an hour of your absolute, glory. I'm sure that this is gonna be very useful for planners and brokers and funds managers and anybody that's really struggling with, with technology and trying to get themselves organised.

[00:29:17] Your five top tips are perfect. and thank you so much for coming on the show, bro.

[00:29:22] Lyle Greig: No, my pleasure. And, just a reminder that my technology stack, as well as notes will be sort of available, you know, for, for download.

[00:29:32] Chris Schwager: If you wanna learn more about the Technology Stack or Lyle Greig, as you said, go into the show notes, you'll find everything you need right there.

[00:29:41] Arming your business with the right technology and strategy helps you build a business that evolves, alongside customer needs and with less drastic overhauls.

[00:29:53] Thanks for tuning in that's all for this episode of Video Made Simple podcast, the special edition and see you next week.