With so many companies still restricting live, in-person meetings and events, many companies have come to us with questions on how to handle their 2020 annual compliance meeting. While canceling isn’t really an option, firms are being faced with the decision on whether to postpone the meeting to a later date or transition their meeting to a digital environment.

If you’re one of these people thinking about taking your live meeting online, but are a bit hesitant, this article helps dispel some common misconceptions we’ve encountered when firms are considering the transition to our on-demand compliance meeting solution.

Myth #1: It Would Take Too Much Time

This is a big misconception we run into when firms first start thinking about moving their annual compliance meeting online. The truth is – it’s actually a fairly seamless transition, so long as you know what type of meeting experience you’re trying to emulate. If you’re interested in one of our pre-built modules, typically you could have your entire annual compliance meeting up and running in less than a day. However, we understand that the majority of firms would prefer to customize our content or build their own compliance meeting into our system. Requests like this can take as little as 1-2 weeks to develop. For a more concrete project quote, contact our sales team at info@questce.com.

Myth #2: It’s Too Costly

This might be true if you don’t already have access to necessary technology such as a desktop computer or a laptop, but even then, online meetings are certainly less expensive than traveling. Most technology companies today run on a SaaS pricing model, which means you don’t pay large amounts of money outright but rather, purchase an account/seat per user. This makes things very inexpensive. At Quest CE especially, additional cost savings come into play when you bundle services together, like our Firm Element Training or Annual Compliance Questionnaire technology. To get a quote on what it would cost your firm to take its annual compliance meeting online, click here.

Myth #3: It’s Not FINRA Compliant

A few years ago, FINRA did a retrospective rule review of the annual compliance meeting requirement and one of the biggest misconceptions that came from that was that firms had little to no flexibility over how to deliver their compliance meeting. This is a bit of a misconception, as FINRA permits firms to use methods outside of a live presentation to host their meeting, such as on-demand webcast, video conference, interactive classroom setting or other electronic means, given that they can ensure attendance throughout the entire meeting. At Quest CE, all of our annual compliance meetings feature time-stamped attendance tracking, unique login credentials and a digital attestation at the end of every meeting to ensure that, among other safeguards, each representative is actively engaged throughout the online meeting.

Myth #4: I Don’t Have The Same Control As I Would In A Live Meeting

Another “myth” we’d like to debunk is that companies don’t have the same level of control that they may have in a live meeting. This, we would argue, is quite the opposite. Whereas live meetings can be limited by time-constrains or depend on the delivery of the instructor, an online meeting can benefit from an “anytime, anywhere” training experience that doesn’t rely on a “good speaker.” You can also set-up automation for notifications to employees when deadlines are approaching so that you don’t have to chase them down and discuss what needs to be done. This also allows firms to track employee progress, completion, performance and feedback during training without any manual data entry or face-to-face evaluations.

Myth #5: I Can’t Create As Tailored Of A Learning Experience Online

While it may feel as though there is less interaction online because you cannot see your instructor, there is still much you can do to create a tailored learning experience for your firm members. Beyond customizing content to fit the unique needs of your firm and its users, we’ve seen several compliance officers tackle areas of concern through engaging, custom-created videos. These videos are often sprinkled throughout the course to keep the learners engaged and to help maintain a bit of that “face-to-face learning.” Beyond that, the online course template can be completely customized to reflect your firm’s branding/styling.

If you are interested in learning more about our solution or taking your annual compliance meeting online, contact us today at info@questce.com.