Digital transformation – the basics
Everywhere you look there are examples of digital transformation that have changed our everyday lives. These include online banking, shopping, parking, hailing a cab, listening to the radio, watching TV, photography etc. All have been radically transformed through the use of digital technology.
Google defines Digital Transformation as “a strategic initiative that incorporates digital technology across all areas of an organisation. Digital transformation evaluates an organisation's processes, products, operations, and technology stack to identify ways to improve operational efficiency and bring products to market faster.”
Digital transformation is not a journey with an ending, it’s an evolving process as technology becomes ever more capable. There are three stages to digital transformation, which started with the Internet, which changed how we use and think about technology:
Stage one – the internet
This got us using Google, online banking, online shopping etc. . This era was really kicked along into part two during Covid when video conferencing became a critical engagement tool and forced every one of us who wanted to communicate with anyone to use a PC or tablet.
Stage two – the smartphone
The ability to access the services we use, wherever and whenever we need. Let’s face it, everyone’s delivering you an app on your phone. I even have one now to check my local council bin pick-ups. Did I think I needed this as an app? No, but it’s a lot easier than having to go to my PC and login to a website to find out what bins are being picked up this week. Given the proliferation of apps that your clients are using it’s easy to understand why your clients’ minimum expectations are that they can access your services through an app on their phone.
Stage three - Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI will really shake things up, and if you’ve not already developed a digital strategy, then you’re in grave danger of being left behind.
We’re currently somewhere between the middle of stage 2 and at the very beginning of stage 3. It’s an exciting time to be in digital technology as AI will change our lives to an even greater extent than the internet and the smartphone have.
An example of digital transformation - the humble parking app
The parking app is now integral to pretty much every car park and town centre. The apps were initially clunky – often requiring a password and different parking apps were required to pay for parking at different carparks. The number of different apps is falling significantly and most now use biometric security which is so much easier than trying to type in a password on a mobile phone. If you are parking around my town, Sutton Coldfield, most of the machines no longer take cash. As the machines break they’re not fixed. The council rely on RingGo and, if you want to park, you have to use the app.
If like me you pop into town most days to pick up shopping, walk the dog etc., the app is so much easier than carrying around change for the parking meter. It takes a few seconds to pay for parking and the app reminds me if my time is running low. It’s a better way of paying for parking as there’s no change to carry and as long as I’ve got my smartphone I can pay for parking. And it's definitely better than using a parking meter when it's raining.
But now consider how it’s also better for the council – no cash to collect, machines to fix and they can increase prices with little or no work. Increasing prices may be not so good for me but ultimately, we all save as the council raise more money with less cost and can hopefully spend the money on better things than fixing parking meters. Potholes spring to mind, particularly if you live in Daventry. See Welcome to Pot Hole City and Daventry Banksy for an amusing read.
The key thing here is that parking has changed because increased user adoption of the app(s) has been achieved. Partly through making the service better for the end user, and partly because you have no choice. My eighty-seven year old Mum was annoyed she can no longer park without using the app. Her grandkids showed her how easy it was to use and now even she’s a convert. Not through choice, but necessity is the mother of invention as the saying goes.
Switch now to the world of financial services, where financial advisers and wealth managers have had limited success in implementing client portal technology particularly through their platforms or back-office systems. Why? Because you can’t fully realise the benefits of digital transformation unless you think about the problem from your client's perspective (as per the parking app example).
Meeting your clients’ expectations
Your clients expect to access your services through whichever technology they have to hand when they receive a note from you. That means it’s got to be via an app, and your app needs to makes your clients’ lives easier and be an obvious improvement on the old way of doing things. Your clients will use your app if:
- You deliver them an app to access your services, conveniently across all the technologies they use – their laptops, tablets and smartphone.
- Your app uses biometric security, so they don’t need to type a password and deal with multi-factor authentication to access their data or read a letter from you.
- They can view their investments and their data is regularly updated.
- Communicating with you is secure and as easy as talking with their friends via WhatsApp, with video, pictures and even emojis as part of the compliance record.
- They can keep track of and access all their important financial paperwork whenever and wherever it suits them.
- When they want to see you, they can book an appointment.
Adoption is key to your success, so it needs to be managed and it’s unlikely to be achieved on day-one as the natural habit is for both your clients and your staff to fall back into using email as it’s not easy to break a habit. But you’re doing this for a good reason and it’s going to benefit your clients because:
- They want to check their wealth. Not because they want to trade. It’s just reassuring to know they can view it whenever they want and see how it’s performing.
- They are uncomfortable with sending their financial information over email and they’re very uncomfortable with clicking on email links that ask them to sign paperwork and worse still, some of your really important email gets lost in their junk folder, which is not a great reflection on your service.
- The paperwork you deliver them is important. They want it. They value it. They know it’s important. They just don’t know where to store it so they can access it when they need it.
Your new role as your client’s technology supplier
You need to consider that you are moving from the role of adviser into the role of a technology supplier as it’s your technology that you want your clients to use. As a technology supplier, it’s important that you think about the experience from your client’s perspective. This is the key to success. You need to deliver a technology solution that meet’s your clients’ expectations. If you don’t, then all the benefits of a digital servicing channel will be lost to you. However, meeting your clients’ expectations is not as hard as you think.
Three things clients want – and need – from your app
Clients generally want three things from your app - access to their valuations, securing their financial information and organising their paperwork. If you deliver these so they can access them conveniently and easily then you’re on your way to complementing your adviser services with a digital service channel.
Driving client adoption
At times, existing clients will revert back to using e-mail. When they do, bring the email into your digital service and respond via secure messaging. Your clients will get a ping notification on their phone, allowing them to access the response with a simple biometric login, reassuring them every time they login that you’re taking their data protection seriously. Pretty soon, they’ll use the app as it’s more convenient and easier to communicate with you than email. It’s easier than the old way of working, they don’t need to think about who they are communicating with, the information can be tracked for them, it’s secure and they know they are safe from phishing attempts. An easier and better way for them to interact with you.
For new clients, adoption is easier. If you give them access to your app from the outset, your onboarding journey can be delivered through it. Your client learns to communicate with you through your app and will love seeing their fact find take shape and having all their paperwork organised – and let’s face it – there is a lot of paperwork.
It’s a better way of working for your clients and if you are consistent in using it, eventually you’ll reach critical mass and then like the council you’ll need to decide if you let the odd client continue to use post and email. That’s your decision based on the value to your business of a single way of working versus the cost of dealing with the odd exception.
This is the beginning of your digital journey but its sadly the end for many client portals, as if you don’t look at the technology from your clients’ perspectives then you won’t get to enjoy the great efficiencies that digital servicing can provide, sitting comfortably alongside your advice service.
Interested in accessing the Client Experience Toolkit 2024? You can read the report online here.
ABOUT MONEYINFO
moneyinfo is a private fintech firm based in Henley in Arden, Warwickshire specialising in client portals and mobile apps for the wealth management industry.
Our commitment to transforming the digital landscape for wealth management firms has not only enhanced operational efficiency but has also amplified digital engagement between these firms and their clients. Our client-centric solution blends operational excellence with superior client engagement, featuring branded web front-end portals and mobile apps which seamlessly integrated with leading third-party portfolio management solutions including Third Financial, IRESS Pulse, Pershing, and IMiX, along with platforms, back office systems, and third party productivity tools.
Our client portal and mobile apps are the must-have technology for forward-thinking wealth managers.
For more information, visit moneyinfo’s profile here.
ABOUT THE CLIENT EXPERIENCE TOOLKIT 2024
The Client Experience Toolkit 2024 is the first in a new series of Toolkit reports focused on key technology themes and tools impacting global wealth management. Each Toolkit report focuses on a key wealth management theme, segment or geography.
This first issue takes the form of a thematic report and shines a light on the trends and solutions influencing the successful delivery of client experience (CX) in wealth management. It features 11 showcases, each centred around a dedicated CX-relevant topic and related solution.
The report will be distributed at the Client Experience Toolkit Roadshow, hosted at individual events in Geneva, Zurich, London, Singapore and Dubai in late September and into October. These are free to attend for any form of wealth manager and provide technology vendors an opportunity to sponsor or demo.
Join us at the Client Experience Toolkit Roadshow 2024:
- Geneva – discover more and register here.
- Zurich – discover more and register here.
- London – discover more and register here.
- Singapore – discover more and register here.
- Dubai – discover more and register here.
