2020 met everyone with challenges – both personally and professionally. LPL Financial met those professional challenges head on. Matt Enyedi, LPL’s Managing Director of Business Solutions, shares his top three takeaways from working with advisors to help them pivot during the pandemic.

1. Necessity is the mother of invention

Finding new ways to work and stay connected presented challenges, but also opportunities, as some advisors realized they could run their practices remotely – and perhaps even more efficiently – without sacrificing their quality of service to their clients.

“As advisors’ lives became increasingly complex during the pandemic, they encountered problems they’d never faced before,” Matt said. “While many advisors excel at managing their clients’ wealth and building relationships, they may not have always had the time or expertise to run their practice properly.”

2. Experimentation is key

Sometimes you need to embrace an experimental mindset to move forward and adapt to challenging times. For advisors, this meant adopting new tools like video conferencing and calendaring software like ScheduleOnce. For LPL Financial, it meant getting into the “lab” and quickly finding ways to build solutions for advisors.

“While we have an LPL Labs program where we architect all of our solutions in a more normalized environment, this was a very not-normal environment. We kind of flew by the seat of our pants, trying to solve for what our advisors needed and how to deliver it immediately,” Matt said.

Although much of this behavior started as a reaction to a situation, this willingness to adapt quickly — and adopt new tools and practices — will likely become an ongoing part of how we all work.

3. It’s still a relationship business

Connecting with people, even virtually, became even more paramount. “Early on, our advisors were saying ‘I’m engaging with my clients better than I ever have before.’ One of the gifts is how we’ve all been able to connect with those we know, albeit slightly less than an in-person dynamic,” Matt said.  “How we engage in new relationships is going to be the next big challenge, as this new normal takes it to the next stage.”

To learn more about ways that LPL can help you run your business your way, visit LPL Business Solutions.