2020 & THE ENVIRONMENT: it's time to act, but how? Article 5 of 10: GREEN MEETINGS
At Advanced UK, we're demonstrating our commitment to the environment, and we're helping our clients take positive steps to implement positive and effective change. It's time to act!
In this blog series, our own environmental evangelist, Humperdinck Jackman, explores a range of technologies and services which Advanced UK has launched to contribute to a better future for us all.
Green Meetings?
Video conferencing isn't anything new, and it's not news to highlight that we're swamped with options ranging from Skype, Zoom, GoToMeeting, CITRIX, and many more software options. All this begs the question: why are so many professionals reluctant to exploit the technology and thus be more efficient with both their own time and that of their clients? Why not meet by video?
So what happens? Countless millions of travel miles are consumed by all manner of business professionals convinced by their superiors that it's an imperative to 'press the flesh' and suffer yet another pitiful cup of instant coffee meeting in the client's offices. Well, the world has changed - and it's time for the Millennials to show us all how it can be done!
Is Deal Abandonment the Big Issue?
The real issue is that we fear deal abandonment, and we've been programmed to believe that face-to-face is more productive. Instead we should be meeting our customers in-person from anywhere in the world, and engaging with them in a more meaningful way to build real momentum in the sales process.
Meeting online enables us to collaboratively review and discuss documents live in as much or as little detail as required – removing the need for back and forth emails and phone calls and, crucially, to close deals instantly with signed commitment: get documentation signed in your meeting and remove the potential for buyer’s remorse and deal abandonment.
There's the AML and KYC Effect too
The second answer as to why so much time is wasted may be found in our Byzantine legal and regulatory system which reveals there are a staggering TWENTY FIVE bodies with oversight and responsibility for Anti Money Laundering laws and regulations, and that's aside from the additional regulators where you're engaged in cross-border activities!
Whether you're working as an estate agent, solicitor, financial institution, IFA, insurance, gaming, payments, and many others too, you're subject to the Know Your Client (KYC) demands of the Anti Money Laundering rules.
And so we see a leading cause of time wasted and emissions generated by people travelling to the offices of firms to 'prove' who they are when the technology exists to demonstrate this digitally. There's a big but, though: the digital platforms listed above don't fulfil the requirements!
It doesn't stop there: what about presenting documents to clients for signature, especially commercial contracts? Wouldn't it be brilliant if all of this could be conducted in the same manner as when meeting face-to-face? Before we explore solutions, let's pause to understand AML, the over-riding regulation.
AML: A Staggering 25 Regulators in the UK!
In the United Kingdom, the Anti Money Laundering (AML) laws and regulations launched in 1994, the Money Laundering (Amendment) Regulations 2012 extended the scope of the Regulations to include all estate agents, included a power for professional supervisory bodies to share information with each other and particularised HMRC’s criteria that may be used to determine whether an individual is “fit and proper” in connection with money service businesses and trust and company service providers.
Fair enough, but did you know there are a staggering twenty five AML regulators in the United Kingdom alone, let aside the additional regulators where you're engaged in cross-border activities!
AML Regulators in the UK include:
a) The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is widely assumed to be the lead regulator, but there are multiple regulators for the non financial sector: including the FCA and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), with the latter regulating estate agency businesses and accountancy service providers which are not already supervised by a professional body;
b. The Gambling Commission is the supervisory authority for casinos:
c. The Law Society is the supervisor for solicitors’ firms in England and Wales:
d. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (“ICAEW”) is the supervisor for Chartered Accountants;
e. A further 19 supervisory bodies for the purposes of the Money Laundering Regulations are particularised in Schedule 3 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007: Read the full list here.
AML and Proof of Identity
Evidence of identity may be in documentary or electronic form. For individuals, this generally includes the supply of a government issued document. Importantly, though, a firm must apply, on a risk-sensitive basis, 'enhanced customer due diligence measures and enhanced ongoing monitoring in any situation which by its nature can present a higher risk of money laundering or terrorist financing', especially where the customer has not been physically present for identification purposes.
In short, except where there's increased risk, so many face-to-face meetings are simply not required if you have taken reasonable precautions according to the nature of the transaction.
Be Productive and Close More Deals
Whether you're selling technology or legal services, surely the absolute objective is to get business moving and close more deals? It must be said, that a key step is then to meet more clients, and eliminating the travel time is key to the recipe.
Objectives:
- To meet, collaborate and transact with your customers remotely – anywhere, anytime, and to combine all parts of the deal closing process into one simple tool.
- To remove the cost and pain of physical mail, print-sign scan documents and broken workflows. Much better that all documents are shared securely, signed digitally and stored online.
- To integrate directly with your CRM and customer management systems for quick and easy deal processing.
- To forget the hassle of trying to find convenient dates, times and locations to get business done, when all you need is an internet connection and a camera!
SuiteBox: The Meeting Solution for the 2020's!
Enter SuiteBox, proven FinTech software from Australia. They've got a great message: give your customers a better digital experience in an age where costly ‘bricks and mortar’ branches and stores are closing!
SuiteBox allows you to give your customers a face-to-face, trust-based experience whilst you benefit from the efficiency of digital channels.
SuiteBox helps companies improve customer experience and close business faster using online video meetings combined with easy digital signing and robust compliance tools.
And there's the difference: with SuiteBox you don't just 'meet', but you can sign documents - and the other party can witness the signing - while recording the meeting too!
The SuiteBox technology gives your clients the choice and convenience of digital, combined with the comfort of dealing with humans. This makes convenience a priority with 'anywhere, anytime' digital meeting and electronic signing capabilities.
SuiteBox: Enhance your Compliance
Using SuiteBox for your digital meetings deters fraud, and enhances your compliance where there's regulatory oversight.
- SuiteBox can provide video-recorded evidence of meetings – so advice and consultations can be clearly recorded and verbal agreements evidenced alongside digitally signed documents
- SuiteBox integrates directly into your CRM and customer management systems, feeding your files and recordings directly to customer records
- Evidence intent with proof of understanding and agreement captured on evidential video recordings
- Automatic audit trail records are appended to every signed document automatically, giving full details of each signer, their location, time, date and device – as well as a picture of them!
- To reduce the chance of fraud, Suitebox uses its VideoSign™ Proof of Signature technology, which means you can witness and record who is signing.
Watch this video!
Summary
We must improve the customer experience, and we must adopt eco-centric working practises. The World has changed, and the pace of change in the business world is going to accelerate beyond what anyone born in the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's can cope with easily.
Electric cars, 'Boris Bikes', ULEZ and Congestion Charging zones ... these are all the tip of the iceberg. Every organisation will have to adapt, and ultimately prove their impact upon the environment. The question is, does your organisation - yourself included - trust your younger staff enough to facilitate the change which will inevitably be forced upon you? Are you holding back their productivity - while simultaneously harming the environment - simply because the age of your managers cannot fully comprehend how business life is changing?
Advanced-UK is here to support you
At Advanced-UK, we want to help you explore these latest technological innovations, and as a SuiteBox Partner, we are practising what we're preaching. Talk to us ... we will show you how it's done!
Call us on 01895 811811
There's more in our Artificial Intelligence series - have you read:
Humperdinck Jackman
Director of Consulting Services
Humperdinck has a 30-year career spanning Document Management Systems (DMS), data protection, Artificial Intelligence, Data Protection and Robotic Process Automation. With many articles published in print internationally, he believes the advances in office technology are such that we're entering the 4th Industrial Revolution. Now Director of Marketing and Consulting Services at Advanced UK, he's as active with clients as he is in endeavouring to write original blog articles.
