Mobile Transactions: Driving Business and Increasing Margins

There is a lot of talk about mobile commerce and mobile transactions. Generally, these terms are being applied to banking and consumer applications. However, the current economic climate has made the bed for mobile transactions in other venues as well. Advisors, insurance agents, mortgage brokers, and others who are feeling the crunch of heightened competition and a shrinking client base need to be able to move faster and do more with less.

A “basic” mobile solution provides access to client data, allowing the advisor to increase intelligence prior to a meeting. An “actionable” mobile solution provides access to the systems necessary to empower an advisor to complete transactions while on the go.

The right mobile application has the capability to provide:

· Comprehensive account lookup and direct access to business data

· Trade order entry and real-time account maintenance

· Secure and reliable data maintenance from any location

Enabling mobile transactions allows the advisor to minimize the amount of time spent completing client-related activities. This “done, right now” or “once and done” capability can reduce the amount of time spent servicing a client’s account by up to 30% by eliminating the steps associated with note-taking, calls to assistants, and processing back at the office.

“Once and done” mobile transactions also increase the volume of transactions completed by an advisor, by enabling the transaction at the time of highest client interest. The right information, and the ability to act on it, increases the probability that a decision will be made (today) and a transaction completed (right now). Leveraging the 360 degree view of the client found within the enterprise's data systems also allows the creation and delivery of real-time, targeted offers. Real-time, targeted offers have been shown to give the advisor a higher probability of satisfying the client’s needs in a face-to-face meeting. That sort of “perfect match” product identification results in customer satisfaction, increased transactions, and decreased account attrition.

It seems clear that the ability to complete mobile transactions, for these professionals, is not a trend or a feature, but rather a competitive differentiator that will make them, and their firms, more successful. As always, your comments and thoughts are welcome.

Comments

[Steve]

Where would you see "once and done" playing into an insurance business process?

[Chris Willis]

I had this conversation with an analyst last week. We discussed two specific scenarios: Catastrophic Response and Claims Inspecting. In both scenarios, there is a desire on the part of the insurer to provide high-quality service efficiently and quickly. Insurers are starting to streamline the on-site process (going as far as settling the claim and handing over a check at the time of inspection) by mobilizing the business process on a smartphone. The result is less administrative time associated with a claim (less cost), and high customer satisfaction (client retention).

Obviously, insurance agents will also experience huge benefits from the use of mobility. Transactional mobile software turns a smartphone into a point-of-service sales terminal, staring at the real-time delivery of a quote, to the scheduling of a medical evaluation, and ending in the capture of a digital signature to close the sale and begin the underwriting process.