Interview with AdviceTech.LIVE Speaker Megan Carpenter of FiComm Partners
Megan Carpenter
CEO at FiComm Partners
AdvisorTech.LIVE Moderator: Advisor Marketing Tech
How did you get your start in financial services?
I started in financial services as a marketing intern at John Hancock Financial Network when I was 20 years old. I was looking for a paid internship that semester and a sorority sister connected me to the role.
I had no interest in financial services, knew nothing about financial advisors, and didn’t have a particular interest in marketing. I dove in headfirst and haven’t looked back!
What’s something that you know now that you wish you’d known when you started your career?
I wish I had known that there are so many people in our industry who are willing to help young professionals. When I got started, I was afraid to ask for help. I wish I had asked for professional development support and access to mentors earlier on. That type of support is transformative!
What excites you most about the financial advice profession right now?
I am most excited about the opportunity for advisors to evolve from the ‘old school’ of marketing to the ‘new skool’ of marketing. Advisors have a tremendous opportunity to create connections and build relationships with prospects and clients using modern marketing tools in this virtual environment.
I think COVID is the kick financial advisors needed to realize they can actually flourish in a virtual environment, including how they use digital marketing tools to transform their client and prospect experiences.
Is there something your company does that you don’t think advisors know about that they should be aware of?
FiComm’s Advisor Education is a series of virtual marketing workshops that give advisors the strategic frameworks they need to dominate marketing in their own business. We don’t believe in top-down, cookie-cutter, jargon-heavy approaches to marketing education.
Our virtual marketing workshops give advisors the strategic frameworks they need to make the right decisions for their business. Our online forum for peer experience sharing and 1:1 coaching with a marketing expert drives tremendous value for the advisor.
Any words of advice for advisors looking to update their tech stack?
Don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions. Your tech stack decisions are long-term decisions that should drive value with clients and efficiency with staff.
Ask questions that dive beyond features/benefits and into questions around how the tech will solve a specific business need, how the tech company is planning to grow and evolve in coming years, what their service standards are, what type of advisor tech is not a good fit for, etc. You’ll learn a lot in a salesperson’s ability to dive deep with you.
What are you looking forward to the most about attending AdviceTech.LIVE?
I look forward to learning about the business vision and future roadmap from so many leading wealthtech providers.
I am excited to pull back the curtain a bit and see beyond demos and features, and into what makes these businesses so great.