With the possibility of other Millennials, no one is going to suggest Millennials are easy to communicate with. Part of the problem is the manner in which Millennials communicate.

The popular opinion is that young people today never take their eyes off their cellphone screen. Images of two people sitting in the same room communicating with each other via their smartphones produce screams of anguish among older adults.

Spectrem’s new study on Millennials shows that they do indeed like to communicate electronically, including in their conversations with financial advisors.

According to the study High Income Millennials, 53 percent of Millennials have texted their advisor at some point. That’s a very high percentage, especially taking into account the number of financial advisors who do not communicate via text.

Of course, texting is seen by Millennials as near-universal. They have even taught their grandparents how to do it. So it makes sense that they feel they should be able to text their advisor when situations dictate a quick response.

The study also shows that 29 percent of Millennials have video-chatted with their advisor, another high percentage based on the number of advisors who use video-chat for official business.

Does this mean advisors should strongly consider making both texting and video-conferencing available to their clients? Or can modern business still be conducted without that form of electronic communication?

The Millennials surveyed for the study have an annual household income of at least $100,000 if single and $150,000 if married or living with a partner.

The Millennials were asked to estimate how they communicated with their financial advisor over a year’s time. Among all Millennials, 28 percent of communication occurred via telephone, and 26 percent took place over emails. So more than half the communication still occurs via what might be considered old-fashioned communication modes (if the 30-yaer-old email technique can be considered old-fashioned).

Out of the 100 percent of communication with financial advisors over the previous year, 19 percent was conducted in-person and 13 percent was conducted via texting. The in-person communication percentage gets diminished every time a new communication form is created, and there are many investors these days who never meet in person with their financial advisor.

 

 

©2019 Spectrem Group

 

 

Keywords: Millennials, communication, investors, advisors, Spectrem, texting