Actual Reality

Alison Cooke Mintzer (photo by Chris Ramirez)

Finally we are in the fourth quarter … and that much closer to having 2020 in the rearview mirror—not that I’m super optimistic for 2021 at this point, however. March feels like a lifetime ago in many ways, both businesswise and personally. And I know that goes for everyone. I’m fatigued—not just from Zoom and online meetings, but from remote learning, and missing vacations and time with extended family, and feeling captive at home, and fogging up my glasses with my masks, etc.

It’s hard sometimes to not feel defeated by the virus, even for those who stay healthy. In fact, a recent study from Ardent Partners showed just how much businesses were rocked by this pandemic: For 33% of companies, the firm reported that the impact on business was massive; for 25%, it was high; 42% said they felt only some impact. I’m not sure whether “no impact” was a choice, but it’s notable that it wasn’t part of the results. We know for our audiences of advisers and plan sponsors, it’s clearly not been business as usual—but this was hard to admit for a while.

I was reminded of the stages of denial and then acceptance I had to go through myself, when listening to David Hinderstein, president at Strategic Retirement Group, speak at our recent virtual PLANADVISER National Conference (PANC) about how he originally thought the shift to remote work earlier this year would be short-lived. I remembered telling my kids it would likely be a month or two.

At PANC 2020, advisers and industry experts discussed subjects that no one could have predicted would be so apt, in January or February when we prepared an agenda for the event. Sessions such as “Building a Team—and a Culture—in a Virtual Environment”; “Best Practices for Virtual Meetings—and Avoiding Zoom Fatigue”; “Prospecting and Closing New Business in a Socially Distant Normal”; and “Virtual One-on-Ones: How Workplace Retirement Advice Is Changing” drew attendees looking for unique insight into how top retirement plan advisers had adapted their businesses to meet the challenges of the pandemic.

In various sessions addressing the shift to remote meetings, it was emphasized how much time and effort advisers should invest in understanding the various videoconferencing platforms—e.g., GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams and Zoom— that are available to them and in use at various clients’. There is also the need to understand how to create more engaging meetings, which starts with acquiring proper video-recording equipment and evaluating traditional meeting lengths—what worked in person, advisers noted, in many cases doesn’t work virtually.

That last point is what everyone will confront as we continue to manage in this pandemic world. As we look to 2021, there are many questions about the fundamentals of our businesses: When will we start meeting face to face; will quarterly and participant meetings revert back to pre-2020 experiences, or will there be a new framework by which advisers will be judged? And, of course, from a conference and networking perspective, when will we get back together in person again?

While I was optimistic to hear from our keynote speaker, epidemiologist Larry Brilliant, M.D., that he hoped we would be able to meet in person next fall, he conditioned that by saying many things had to fall into place for that to be a reality. As you all plan for 2021 and reflect on the realities of your business, we hope you share your stories with us at PLANADVISER so we can continue to share best practices and learning—in whatever format it takes.