REGIS radio
12 May 2020
John Kernan of REGIS-TR explains how his firm is using a weekly podcast to interact with clients remotely and keep them updated on the week’s events from SFTR to the Premier League
Image: radioshoot/Shutterstock.com
Among other things, you are responsible for business development at REGIS-TR. Traditionally, that involves a high degree of personal interaction. How are you managing to keep close to your clients during this time of social distancing?
There are a number of elements to this. Firstly, our customer service and client relationship management teams are all working remotely and are all contactable as if we were in a business-as-normal situation. The relationship management team are putting aside a couple of hours a day to go through their client lists and call each of their clients to touch base.
Then, we have always valued social media as a highly-effective tool for building virtual communities. Since we launched our corporate LinkedIn account, we have published a stream of thought leadership blogs and other useful information. We built out our REGIS-TR social media following organically from zero to the 1,300 followers we have today. It might not be the biggest number in the world, but we are in a niche space and our following is very relevant and engaged. So, we already have the foundations to be able to build upon and use this channel to distribute useful tools and information for our clients.
For example, last month, through our LinkedIn page, we distributed a video training guide for our Íø±¬³Ô¹Ï Financing Transactions Regulation user interface. This was produced in ‘chapters’ and so can easily be used as a practical tool and can be consumed at home at our clients’ leisure. We will also be releasing versions in multiple European languages shortly, to stay true to our international client base.
Also, especially at this time of year, we would be participating in industry conferences and events, giving speeches, speaking on panels and – most valuably of all – just talking with our clients over a coffee at our exhibition stand. We really wanted to maintain this relationship with our community, even more so during this time. To fill this gap, we recently launched a podcast, so that we can keep the conversation flowing and stay engaged with our network. Ideally, we would have taken more time refining the format and content but the self-isolation presented the perfect time for us to take the leap and deliver this new format to our customers, the REGIS-TR RoundUp weekly podcast.
In summary, we recognise that communication is critical and we are trying to leverage as many channels and tools as possible to provide information to our customers in a manner which can be easily consumed remotely.
Is it difficult to keep what can be a dry subject interesting? Does it lend itself well to the podcast format?
We want this to be relevant and informative but also authentic and easy to listen to. I tend to think of it this way, I listen to a lot of football podcasts. I don’t really subscribe to the ones that go into heavy tactical detail. I am interested in that, but I tend to consume that information in written format. My favourite football podcasts are the ones that make me feel like I am back in London, down the pub with my friends, discussing the game over a pint. In essence, the ones that make you feel like you, the listener, are part of a community.
We wanted our podcast to replicate the chats we have with customers outside of the confines of a meeting, i.e. professional, but also light-hearted and relatively informal. That’s why my production team are reasonably relaxed in the edit and why we don’t cut all of the ‘off-piste’ chat. For what we are looking to achieve by this, and by sticking to a 15-minute length, I think the podcast format lends itself very well to the subject. After all, podcasting is really just talking.
I read somewhere this week that Amazon is out of stock of microphones due to high demands from people taking home office as a chance to launch either a personal or professional podcast. So we must be on-trend!
So what can we expect to hear in future REGIS-TR RoundUps?
We will continue with regular features giving feedback on trending client queries, SFTR, BREXIT, EMIR Refit and so on. We will look to involve more external expertise, as we did with Dario Crispini, CEO of Kaizen Reporting, who appeared on our fourth episode. We have a weekly editorial meeting every Wednesday to discuss what has caught our eye, what could be interesting for our customers. We might also use the channel to produce some ‘virtual panels’ to discuss key reporting topics.
And, how do you plan to extend your audience?
We take the view that if we are able to provide relevant content in an interesting manner then our audience will grow organically. We’re pretty relaxed about it. We’ve been going for four weeks now and we are pleased with the number of downloads, and the feedback we received has been positive.
Of course, we’ve done some promotion through our own and our group’s social media channels. We’ve also agreed for our podcast to be hosted on the SLT website and, in less than a week, we got 200 downloads through this, so that’s hugely encouraging.
The pod is available through Apple, Spotify and most other major platforms and so is widely and easily accessible.
Will you continue with the format once self-isolation finishes and we are all back in the office?
Yes, for sure. I listen to a lot of podcasts doing my daily commute. I also think that it’s great to have a mix of different channels and formats in our communication portfolio. I am looking forward to recording some features with the industry when – at some point in the future – we are back at conferences. Maybe even the rescheduled SLT Symposium in September.
There are a number of elements to this. Firstly, our customer service and client relationship management teams are all working remotely and are all contactable as if we were in a business-as-normal situation. The relationship management team are putting aside a couple of hours a day to go through their client lists and call each of their clients to touch base.
Then, we have always valued social media as a highly-effective tool for building virtual communities. Since we launched our corporate LinkedIn account, we have published a stream of thought leadership blogs and other useful information. We built out our REGIS-TR social media following organically from zero to the 1,300 followers we have today. It might not be the biggest number in the world, but we are in a niche space and our following is very relevant and engaged. So, we already have the foundations to be able to build upon and use this channel to distribute useful tools and information for our clients.
For example, last month, through our LinkedIn page, we distributed a video training guide for our Íø±¬³Ô¹Ï Financing Transactions Regulation user interface. This was produced in ‘chapters’ and so can easily be used as a practical tool and can be consumed at home at our clients’ leisure. We will also be releasing versions in multiple European languages shortly, to stay true to our international client base.
Also, especially at this time of year, we would be participating in industry conferences and events, giving speeches, speaking on panels and – most valuably of all – just talking with our clients over a coffee at our exhibition stand. We really wanted to maintain this relationship with our community, even more so during this time. To fill this gap, we recently launched a podcast, so that we can keep the conversation flowing and stay engaged with our network. Ideally, we would have taken more time refining the format and content but the self-isolation presented the perfect time for us to take the leap and deliver this new format to our customers, the REGIS-TR RoundUp weekly podcast.
In summary, we recognise that communication is critical and we are trying to leverage as many channels and tools as possible to provide information to our customers in a manner which can be easily consumed remotely.
Is it difficult to keep what can be a dry subject interesting? Does it lend itself well to the podcast format?
We want this to be relevant and informative but also authentic and easy to listen to. I tend to think of it this way, I listen to a lot of football podcasts. I don’t really subscribe to the ones that go into heavy tactical detail. I am interested in that, but I tend to consume that information in written format. My favourite football podcasts are the ones that make me feel like I am back in London, down the pub with my friends, discussing the game over a pint. In essence, the ones that make you feel like you, the listener, are part of a community.
We wanted our podcast to replicate the chats we have with customers outside of the confines of a meeting, i.e. professional, but also light-hearted and relatively informal. That’s why my production team are reasonably relaxed in the edit and why we don’t cut all of the ‘off-piste’ chat. For what we are looking to achieve by this, and by sticking to a 15-minute length, I think the podcast format lends itself very well to the subject. After all, podcasting is really just talking.
I read somewhere this week that Amazon is out of stock of microphones due to high demands from people taking home office as a chance to launch either a personal or professional podcast. So we must be on-trend!
So what can we expect to hear in future REGIS-TR RoundUps?
We will continue with regular features giving feedback on trending client queries, SFTR, BREXIT, EMIR Refit and so on. We will look to involve more external expertise, as we did with Dario Crispini, CEO of Kaizen Reporting, who appeared on our fourth episode. We have a weekly editorial meeting every Wednesday to discuss what has caught our eye, what could be interesting for our customers. We might also use the channel to produce some ‘virtual panels’ to discuss key reporting topics.
And, how do you plan to extend your audience?
We take the view that if we are able to provide relevant content in an interesting manner then our audience will grow organically. We’re pretty relaxed about it. We’ve been going for four weeks now and we are pleased with the number of downloads, and the feedback we received has been positive.
Of course, we’ve done some promotion through our own and our group’s social media channels. We’ve also agreed for our podcast to be hosted on the SLT website and, in less than a week, we got 200 downloads through this, so that’s hugely encouraging.
The pod is available through Apple, Spotify and most other major platforms and so is widely and easily accessible.
Will you continue with the format once self-isolation finishes and we are all back in the office?
Yes, for sure. I listen to a lot of podcasts doing my daily commute. I also think that it’s great to have a mix of different channels and formats in our communication portfolio. I am looking forward to recording some features with the industry when – at some point in the future – we are back at conferences. Maybe even the rescheduled SLT Symposium in September.
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