Source: Finance Derivative
By Winnie Palmer, EMEA Head of Marketing, Seismic
The financial services (FS) industry has undergone a tremendous amount of change over the last two decades. Technology has accelerated product and service innovation, yet the spread that traditional lenders and money managers can command has been going down – putting a considerable amount of pressure on revenues.
What’s more, clients are increasingly demanding highly personalised experiences at a similar standard to what they are used to from digital-first firms like Amazon and Netflix, while new channels such as social media are becoming increasingly important.
FS firms have responded to these market shifts with increased investments into digital products and systems, accelerating their digital transformation journey. Ironically, this is causing a new challenge in organisations’ ability to deliver meaningful client experiences as the amount of digital content explodes. It is simply harder than ever for clients to sieve through the vast amount of competing information. That said, clients are indeed looking for content on digital channels of their choice, with two out of three buyers now preferring remote interactions and digital self-service at all stages of the buying cycle. This begs the question how can FS firms ensure that their content will cut through the clutter and resonate with each client’s individual needs?
The good news is that technology continues to offer greater capabilities for FS firms. For example, the ability to analyse patterns, personalise recommendations and disseminate intelligence is greater than ever before. The most successful FS firms are using these technologies to increase their operational efficiency and advisors’ effectiveness to deliver superior client experiences. So, when we consider the future of the FS industry, how must firms adapt as competition increases and client expectations continue to evolve?
Building for success
Establishing a culture of continuous learning and development is critical to the long-term success of any digital transformation project. This can help FS firms truly differentiate themselves and their advisors from the competition, enabling their client-facing teams to replicate the organisation’s star players and enhance their level of performance.
Firms should focus on making coaching and training readily available through cwhenever and wherever they are needed. By delivering timely, data-informed recommendations and insights, these platforms can enable financial advisors and money managers to improve their learning speed and knowledge retention. This in-the-moment coaching provides them with the ammo they need to craft and deliver content that truly delights and engages clients.
For example, training programmes delivered through interactive lessons embedded with practice sessions and playbooks that are based on what’s proven to have driven impact in past client scenarios – all tailored to the specific advisor – can help FS teams deliver more engaging and impactful experiences. Leveraging granular performance data, digital platforms can provide insights and recommendations to guide advisers on what to say, do, and show clients at certain stages of the sales cycle. As well as ensuring more effective interactions, this dynamic approach to skill development means advisors can spend more time engaging with clients as they continuously learn and develop.
This is all key to building long-term relationships in today’s FS market. By establishing a culture that focuses on continuous learning powered by intelligent and data-informed training and coaching platforms delivered at the moment of need, FS firms can be confident that their advisors are equipped with the most relevant skills and knowledge – no matter where they are in their career.
Driving operational efficiency at scale
Modernising and optimising data processes through automation is another vital cog in the digital transformation machine. The strict regulatory nature of the FS sector means that compliance risks are a key concern. Leveraging technology can enable FS firms to systematically ensure governance and compliance both company-wide and at an individual level – all while reducing costs and increasing their advisors’ productivity.
Centralising these data processes supports FS teams when working with a wide range of assets such as quarterly reports, fact sheets and meeting reviews. Advisors can quickly modify any information based on materials dynamically served from a single source of truth whenever it’s needed without impacting compliance in order to accelerate the approvals process. Integrating these systems across sales, content training and CRM tools will further improve the user experience, ultimately helping financial advisors be more productive and focused on revenue-driving activities.
These technology platforms can also provide key data insights using AI capabilities to help identify behaviours, patterns, and new revenue opportunities from large data sets that would be impossible to analyse manually, thereby driving further impact, faster.
For example, FS firms can leverage these insights to improve the effectiveness of each piece of content they share with clients. Using the data collected from previous interactions, sellers can gain visibility into what has worked, what needs improving, and where clients have engaged with content the most. Armed with these engagement insights from specific scenarios, firms will have a better understanding of the most impactful content, along with when and how it should be delivered. Also, by linking content investment directly to sales performance, organisations can be more intelligent in identifying cost saving opportunities while maximising effectiveness.
Superior client experiences
As financial advisors engage more with the younger generation of tech savvy clients, they need to be able to communicate and interact with these clients in the way they desire, delivering more personal experiences and dynamic interactions. In today’s competitive FS marketplace, this is key to meeting the expectations and needs of the modern client.
This is where content engagement data has a vital role to play. Knowledge of exactly how, when and where customers are interacting with pieces of content allows FS professionals to provide a more agile and responsive experience. It lets them tailor each interaction – whether through e-mail, digital sales rooms, social media, or in-person meetings – to the individual.
The key data insights and recommendations that powerful cloud-based platforms provide allow advisors to build meaningful relationships, even in digital and remote environments. Being able to build trust with clients by demonstrating that they understand their unique needs and situation will help advisors engage more effectively and put them ahead of the competition.
Establishing these trusted relationships with younger generations will be invaluable over the years to come as they inherit wealth from their parents and build their own. In what has become a digital marketplace, FS firms must help their teams engage prospective clients with the right content, at the right time, in the right channels – all in a compliant manner. This can only be achieved by tapping into data insights and technologies that enable hyper-personalisation consistently at scale.
This three-pronged approach that focuses on continuous learning, enhanced operations and powerful client experiences must be at the core of any FS firms’ digital transformation strategy. This is what will enable truly holistic transformations, unlocking new revenue generating opportunities and giving firms the tools to succeed in today’s complex and competitive FS environment.
