Client onboarding can be challenging, time consuming, costly and you are never
guaranteed success. After reading this article you'll know of some of the
smartest onboarding strategies out there including how to help customers see it as a single process and giving them the anywhere and anytime access they want.
Related: Can you build trust with clients and prospects over the phone? Not without co-browsing
Did you know that only 14% of users stay on a site after one day of trialing and 2.7% after one week?
So how do you ensure your clients will stick with you for the long run?
We've looked into how 10 finance companies onboard their clients and the strategies they use to retain them.
1. Cognizant's guide wants us to know that it is all about the client!
Cognizant, a leading specialist services company that works across all industries from Healthcare to Finance hones in on how 'Efficient Client Onboarding is the key to empowering banks'.
The theme running throughout Deepak Mohanty's findings is that the focal point needs to be all about the client, finance companies need to move away from seeing onboarding as a routine process and need to move towards understanding what the client needs and wants.
"In response to regulatory trends and requirements, banks are shifting away from proprietary trading toward flow business. Investment banks and prime brokers must therefore focus more on how they onboard, understand and treat their clients."
Read more on Cognizant's Efficient Client Onboarding
2. Incredible tech that Freedom Financial used for onboarding over the phone
When you phone a client or prospect, you are just a voice on the phone.
It's hard to build trust without being able to see each other or see 'something'.
It is now possible, without any downloads required, for you to phone your customer and show them a presentation on their phone or desktop and make it feel like you're sitting there next to them scrolling through that presentation and pointing at the important parts together.
Freedom financial's debt relief division used HelloScreen Co-Browsing to significantly increase their conversion rates and smooth out onboarding by remotely running through presentations with clients.
Debt relief agents remotely controlled the presentation, on the client's phone, as they explained how the debt relief process works.
Why did this work?
It's hard to trust a voice on the phone. When you see a presentation, including the caller's credentials, how much money you'll save, how many others used that company's products, how they used it, then you build trust in the process.
To provide that experience, they used Upscope co-browsing and here is a link to the Freedom customer story.
3. Teamwork & the use of referrals is the key for Vance Wealth Group
John Vance the founder of Vance Wealth Group, a financial advisory firm, has experience in onboarding with a small team.
For him it was crucial that his team were able to carry out the tasks so he could concentrate on development of the business.
They believe that 'client experience is built on communication, service, and personalized advice.'
''Most of our clients come from referrals, I wanted to make sure everyone coming through the door had the same experience as everyone else"
"Word gets around."
(https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*ZOLmGF4RObLlVQqn.)
Read more on Vance's Client Onboarding Process for Financial Planners
4. Client Wise make sure they live up to the great expectations
Ray Sclafani, the founder of Client Wise, which specialises in coaching for financial professionals highlights the importance of setting expectations before onboarding begins.
"When you meet with a potential client (and again in an initial e-mail after the relationship has been formalized), lay out how the onboarding process works and what documents and materials are needed to transfer accounts, create a financial plan and start the relationship.''
(https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*2kgm2BGPhDvoPCMj.)
Read more (updated link as old article link has been removed) on Client Wise's Onboarding Checklist
5. Kofax understands how one second is the new one minute
Kofax is a digital service provider for customer onboarding, they discuss how in banking the need for quick and easy onboarding is essential.
"It's important for your customers to see onboarding as a single process, no matter how many channels they use. To avoid losing customers, your onboarding strategy must offer leading-edge experiences that:
– Are consistent across multiple channels
– Avoid repeatedly asking customers for the same information
– Are near-real time and reliably accurate
– Keep customers informed"
