Your high-net-worth clients (in fact all of your clients) come to you first and foremost for your financial expertise. But don’t underestimate their need for a rich and trust-evoking experience—one that includes real-time access to and full visibility into their data, a simplified process, and the ability to work collaboratively within a highly secure platform.
Technology is at the heart of delivering a premium experience in your family office or wealth management firm. When you combine expertise and technology, it’s far easier to build strong, positive and trusting relationships across your client base. And because your firm has access to everything from clients’ assets and cash flows to investments and more, demonstrating trust is imperative.
Why is technology so important? To answer this question thoroughly, we’ve compiled the following list of five ways technology helps build trust with clients.
1. Provides full transparency
Offering full transparency into a client’s data fosters trust because information is readily available on a 24/7 basis. High-net-worth (HNW) clients require on-demand views into their information as well as the ability to monitor the status of payments and when payments are received.
This is possible when firms adopt a powerful, cloud-based bill pay system. Leading solutions provide a time-stamped audit trail. This allows clients to easily review transaction history to see who approved transactions and the status of payments. Data is available any time, anywhere and from any device for complete visibility.
2. Simplifies workflow through automation
Part of a rich client experience includes reducing workflow friction. If your process is manual at any point, you're creating friction for the client. The key is to remove the pain points that come with a complex, manually driven process.
Leading bill payment systems automate workflow from the start with features like BILL Artificial Intelligence and automated reconciliation with your accountant software. BILL Artificial Intelligence all but eliminates data entry by automatically capturing and entering required invoice data such as vendor name, invoice number, invoice date, due date and amount. The system starts the bill creation process for you when an invoice enters your inbox and then notifies you that the data has already been captured. The system also automatically reconciles invoices with your accounting system and bank accounts.
3. Offers real-time insight
Real-time views into the numbers and data analysis showcases your firm’s value and further builds trust because clients can see that you are always on top of their business affairs. Providing clients with current, accurate information on-demand requires technology that “works” for the client. For example, a system that alerts you when attempting to upload a duplicate invoice—flagging the duplicate and mitigating reconciliation work down the road.
High-net-worth clients are a highly sought-after market. To attract and retain them, it’s important to leverage the power of technology to build trust and provide a superior client experience every time. This includes offering full transparency and real-time insight into the data and workflow. It means offering a frictionless, simplified process; the ability to easily collaborate with your team; and performing all work within a highly secure platform.
By adopting the right technologies, you can quickly build trust and long-lasting relationships across your client base to build a profitable and sustainable business.
4. Puts security first
Because your firm is granted access to everything from day-to-day bill management to investment portfolios and cash flows, HNW clients expect the highest level of security. This can only be accomplished by using a top-tier solution—one that offers multi-factor authentication, payment protection to ensure bank account information remains private, and transport layer security (TLS) encryption.
Also required is the ability to securely pay using multiple options (e.g., check, ACH, virtual card), use of positive pay to reduce check fraud, and a system that supports separation of duties such as payment review and approvals while providing a complete audit trail of transactions.
5. Supports easy collaboration
The ability for clients to easily collaborate with your team is important. Frequent touchpoints and regular collaboration build trust and ensure clients remain current on payments and data insights.
Top solutions support fully automated workflows and real-time collaboration no matter whether the client is in the office or on the go. For example, via a mobile app that offers one-click approvals. This also supports ease of communication between clients and firm staff to keep business moving forward.
Ready to learn more? Our team is waiting to show you how BILL can work for your firm and your clients. Learn more about BILL's wealth management solution or schedule time for a demo today.
