There are few things in life more annoying than visiting a website with the intention of contacting a company about a query or grievance and being faced with a generic contact form. No email. No phone number. Not even a Twitter handle. Just a couple of empty boxes and a submit button, and a niggling fear that any message you send has about as much chance as getting a response as a scrolled-up note stuffed in a bottle and thrown out to sea.
Does anyone read these messages and who, indeed, are you messaging? It may be the CEO or an office junior employed to manage spam.
Communication between a customer and a business is essential for that firm’s success. Your customers need to be able to contact you and they must be able to do so in a way that suits them. The same applies whether you’re a fashion retailer or a mortgage lender. Communication is key.
It’s important for brokers to look at how they communicate with their clients and whether they’re offering the flexibility and choice consumers are seeking. Of course, in financial services, there is the added requirement of data protection. If a customer has to contact you through a contact form it’s essential you know who is manning that inbox.
Indeed, the same can be said when direct emailing is your main method of contact with a client. Sending emails with attachments that are not ‘secure’ or ‘encrypted’ means you are putting yourself at risk from data breaches.
Embracing the more technologically advanced methods of communication available today will not only help to satisfy your customer’s desire for more convenient communication, it will also help you to manage information in a safer, more effective way.
Customer portals are an excellent way of communicating with clients safely and effectively. Customers are able to access the information they need or get their questions answered quickly and information can be shared back and forth safely and securely.
With documents stored safely in the portal the broker can rest assured that he is not breaching any data security legislation and the customer can access information without the need for contacting the broker in real time.
Along with online chat facilities and mobile app technology, customer portals form the future of client and business communication. If you’re labouring under the illusion that email or, worse still, online contact forms are sufficient you’re very much mistaken.
