No one has to be convinced of the value of online access to his or her financial data. Having access to one’s financial data without going to the bank has become expected by most consumers. However, while online access has become a standard, it’s still a painful, difficult experience with most financial service providers. Providing your clients with a seamless, up to date online experience can help support your relationship with your clients in a number of ways.
Help older clients find what they’re looking for easily
Older clients may not be avid users of new technology, but computers, tablets and smartphones are becoming an essential part of their everyday life. A lack of familiarity is not an excuse to neglect your older clients online experience. If anything, this gives reason to give it as much attention as possible.
A high quality online experience means users can find what they’re looking for with minimal interaction. It presents the information they’re looking for without providing too many unnecessary options. It makes it clear what they have to do to find more detailed information if that’s what they desire.
A high quality online experience gives your older clients a safe, clear, easy to understand way to access their financial data.
Give younger clients the experience they expect
In greater and greater numbers, millennials are getting into investing. They have careers, they have money, and for the most part they don’t have pensions.
They’ve also spent almost their entire lives around computers, likely have a smartphone or tablet, and expect a smooth, intuitive experience whenever they’re online.
You may find that your online portal is your primary point of contact with your younger clients.
They’re used to standards and best practices for online experience that they probably can’t even articulate, but if your online portal doesn’t work they way they expect it to, they’ll know it, and that will impact their impression of your business.
Providing your younger clients with an online experience that meets their (high) expectations will help give them a positive impression of your business – if online is your primary point of contact, and online is frustrating to use, you have a frustrated client.
Stand out from the competition
We’ve conducted a fair deal of user research on client portals across Canada. If there’s one thing that’s stood out consistently, it’s that no one is satisfied with the current online portals from the big organizations, and the small organizations tend not to have an online solution. By providing a high quality online experience to your clients, you can differentiate your business from the competition and facilitate easier, smoother interaction with your clients at the same time.