How to Pick the Best Client Portal and Get Clients to Use It

Client portals are an absolute necessity for a well-defined client experience. Portals are the foundation of the digital relationship between a client and their firm. Portals allow a centralized hub that increases your team's ability to manage, improve, and simplify the client's needs. COVID-19 has demanded the need for online portals, remote work options, and overall better communication skills between clients and advisors. With so many portal options for advisory firms in today's marketplace, there are a few things you need to consider while selecting one. More than likely, you've been using multiple tech providers for overlapping needs.

How to Select the Correct Portal:

Know the Purpose

What do the clients need to get from the new portal? Do you need a centralized communication hub to deliver updates or allow clients to access documents? The portal needs to get designed for the client and how you intend for them to use it.

Understand the Impact

Remember to keep in mind how the portal will affect any internal workflows. Can the portal be used to help with data gathering, account aggregation, or any other multitude of ways to make life easier for advisors? Research All Options: One thing to keep in mind is that most tech vendors you work with already offer some kind of portal. Look into their options, limitations, integrations, and features and compare them to one another. The next three steps will help you select a portal that will tend to your team and clients' needs. Pick one option and settle on it. Your clients need one centrally structured way to communicate with your firm.

Getting Clients to Use It

Train Your Team

Your team needs to learn how to use the portal for their own benefit while also learning so they can teach their clients how. While teaching your team make sure to focus on how the portal can work for them by making their days more manageable and profitable.

Share the Benefits

When your clients start to learn about the new portal, you may hit resistance. Remember to focus on "why" they should use the portal. Teach them how it will make their life easier no matter how it may complicate yours.

Talk, Talk, Talk

The truth is your clients will do what you tell them to do. If you keep talking about the portal and offering ongoing training, they will start to understand it's the best way to engage with your firm.

The portal should allow document sharing, emails, updates, and overall organizations. Keep in mind that not all of your clients will adopt the new portal right away, but consistency can remedy this. The earlier you introduce a client to the portal, the more likely they will adopt it as a necessary tool for them.

Firms need to be proactive to changes in technology to stay competitive. If you fail to keep up, you will be one of the many firms that falls behind the consumer expectations curve. Never stop educating yourself, your team, or your clients.