An online referral system has launched that promises to provide cost-effective and qualified leads for financial planners.
Nikhil Sreedhar, founder of proadviser.com.au, says the concept for the service came about partly through his family’s medical background, and partly through boredom.
Both of Sreedhar’s parents work in medicine and there was a lot of talk about the profession in the family home. That’s where an idea first came up of an online system to match patients with the most appropriate medical practitioner.
Sreedhar quickly realised the many shortcomings of that application, including the compliance and privacy issues.
Sreedhar joined a financial planning firm after graduating from university, and while bored and staring out of the window during a financial planning course, he realised the kernel of the medical-matching idea could work in financial planning. In fact, it could work in a range of professional services, and proadviser.com.au caters to lawyers and accountants, in addition to financial planners. The financial planning referral system went live on January 6, and the accounting referral system went live on February 10.
The online referral system is comprised of two parts – a consumer section and a practitioner section. In the former, consumers provide details about themselves and quite a precise description of the service they are seeking. Sreedhar has engaged a marketing firm to promote the service to the public.
In the latter, professionals provide similar details about themselves, and the services they can provide. Each professional is pre-vetted for qualifications and experience before being accepted into the system.
A proprietary algorithm matches incoming consumers with the professionals in its database. When a match occurs, the practitioner is alerted that a potential referral exists, and then can opt to receive the referral, or not.
Sreehdar says that because consumers have to provide a reasonable amount of detail about themselves and their needs, and the system matches them to professionals with the experience and qualifications to help, financial planners receive qualified leads that have a good chance of converting to clients.
There is a fee payable for each referral accepted. Until the end of February, financial planning referrals will be passed on free of charge. After than a fee of $60 applies to every referral accepted. There is an annual membership fee of $240 – again, waived for anyone who signs up before the end of February.
