Kattintson ide a magyar verzióért.
Our experiences with real-time client engagement
As time flies, expectations change. We know it, you know it, everyone knows it. The only consistent thing in the world is change. Even still, no one pays enough attention to changing client expectations, choosing to react to them instead of meeting them in advance.
Technological advancements made user experiences in every industry better and better, resulting in rising expectations at an accelerated pace, ensuring even better experiences, turning into even higher expectations, etc. This race to keep-up with client demands has long been a deciding factor between winners and losers in the economy, but the last few years showed us that changes in expectations don’t take decades or years anymore. They can be as quick as a few short months, upending development projects completely.
We have developed our Wealth Connect product (originally known as our Wealth Management Communication HUB) for real-time client engagement with a focus on text-based communication between advisors and clients. The development was partially funded by the Hungarian government’s KFI tender and the chat engine at the heart of the product incorporated a state-of-the-art, AI based chatbot as well. The goal and aim for clients and advisors was to be able to reach each other quickly to update one-another or to get quick answers in times of need. Advisors were also able to communicate with multiple clients and save time using mass chatting features, all in a completely secure environment, where messages are retained in the database that cannot be deleted by everyday users.
While the chat engine remains essential and one of the key features of the product, we found that client expectations changed in just a few months, from the start of project development to the end of it. Originally, we developed the product to answer our clients’ need for secure and direct communication. They were satisfied with our advisory solution and our client-facing application, but we were told in multiple countries that secure communication is what they’re really looking for. However, by the time we finished development, these same clients were more interested in being able to send personalised mass content to their clients about products, services, upcoming promotions, regulatory warnings, administrative tasks, etc.
In other words, short, one-way, but personalised communication took priority over two-way chat sessions. Fortunately, we anticipated similar requirements, and included these features in our solution. The powerful notification engine of the product, partially funded by the Hungarian government’s VKE tender serves this exact function.
The notification engine allows for one-way communication from the financial institution to the clients directly, which can be used by any department for the needed task. Messages are automatically personalised, as the addressee’s name and account information are filled in by the system, and the messages themselves are only sent to those whom they pertain to. However, the best feature of the notification engine is automatization. By connecting the engine to a series of required conditions in the core banking or advisory system, it’s possible to send personalised content automatically, saving the advisor precious time and resources. For example, automated warnings can tell clients to visit their branch to update their MiFID II appropriateness tests or to present renewed identification documents. It can also detect the amount of liquid assets on an account and recommend investing either into specific products or ask them to contact their advisor directly.
So, in just a few short months, the focus from two-way human communication facilitated by technology shifted to a completely automated model. While we’re confident that automation can never fully replace the human touch in wealth management and investment banking, the digital transformation of these services will see even faster and bigger shifts in tech-savvy client expectations in the near-future.
Make sure you’re not playing catch-up with client expectations but meet them head-on and sign-up for a free consultation today!