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Brining Financial Services Online
By: Madison Lockwood
The variety of financial tools and services available today has multiplied
dramatically from a generation ago. On both the personal front and in the
business sector there has been a dramatic increase in the number of products
available, the methods by which they are delivered and the services they
require.
The internet is a perfect system for laying out preliminary information in the
financial services industry, where product options can get complicated fairly
quickly. Businesses of all sizes that are engaged in some portion of this
industry are finding that a website makes good business sense.
An enormous amount of financially related business is still done at the local
level. Mortgages, auto and home loans and insurance policies are still usually
secured from a local agent. The small businessman engaged in providing such
products need only think about the amount of time he or she spends on the phone
explaining the basics of their services to realize how much time a website could
save them.
When a customer calls about auto insurance, think about the ability to refer the
caller to your website to learn about the required minimum coverage, about the
relationship of the vehicle's value, about the relationship of personal injury
coverage to health insurance.
Think about having a website that explains the four or five home mortgage
options that are available, about how they are affected by down payment, credit
history and loan amount. Consider the enormous number of variables available in
health insurance for both individuals and families, and envision a chart on your
own website that explains how those policies work.
That's only a start on the types of benefits a website can provide to a small
businessman or regional company in the financial services business. Your website
can provide explanations, charts, even video clips explaining:
* Retirement planning
* Medicare insurance options
* Home loans, including specialties such as tenants-in kind
* Real estate history and trends in your area
* Auto insurance, including the effects of driving records and assigned risk
* Investments - mutual funds or annuities? Stocks or CDs?
* Estate planning
* Health insurance - a new policy, or COBRA?
These are a few examples plucked from a vast array of financial services that
are out there today. Your website can become your reference library, your
consulting tool, and your business partner when it comes to educating your
clients. Websites provide multidimensional explanations of material in a far
more effective fashion than brochures. No matter how glossy, stacks of paper
that use terms only half understood are intimidating to people.
Your website can have an entire dictionary section, so that potential customers
can learn terminology at their leisure, rather than ask embarrassing questions.
And of course, the fewer questions they have when they pay a call on you, the
less time is consumed in moving towards a potential sale.
Use the graphics capability of a website to maximize the attractive nature of
your particular company. Take advantage of a personalized business website to
explain why your services are better, unique, priced more reasonably, performed
more thoroughly. With any complex financial product, you'll need to explain how
your selection of products can meet an entire range of consumer needs. Your
website can do that for you.
Financial products can be presented online just as attractively as real estate
is today. For every financial product, there is a personal benefit that can be
reinforced with images. For products with multiple options and complex
purchasing decisions, a website provides a consumer with an invaluable tool that
is available 24/7. Your potential customer won't be sitting across from you,
concerned that there's been a question missed or an issue not fully understood.
A website is like an office staff to a financial services professional: there's
no better business for harnessing the efficiency of the new technology.
About the Author:
Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate, specializing in small
business development, for Apollo Hosting. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers. |