What can you do to deliver a better pension member experience?

My first memory of technology is a school friend asking my dad if the car made the tea. She read the oil warning light as a teapot not an oil can!

Our interactions with pensions can be similar – an administrator or pensions professional knows what we mean, but does a member know what we mean by Pensions Commencement Lump Sum, benefits crystallisation, recycling tax-free cash or AVCs?

So, a key part of improving your pension member experience is looking at your content, whether online or paper, through members eyes.

What are the main parts of your typical member experience?

• Email and online – a quick and easy way to keep in touch with members – sometimes emails are easy to miss or forget, but it seems no sooner do you put something up on a website it’s out of date!
• Paper – sending members’ material – expensive and very likely to end up in the recycling but reliable, and what certain older members say they like.
• By phone – via a helpline – this can be a great safety net, but can also be a case of knowing what to say or do to unlock the next stage of the process.

So how can we get members to do what we want them to and go online and improve their experience at the same time?

1. 01

   Make information easy to understand

   Cut out the jargon and get straight to the point. It is important to think how we can simplify the message for members so it’s easy to follow through, with clear directions and calls to action. Even with the new requirement for the Taskforce on Climate Financial Disclosures, adding a page which summarises the content and explains the purpose behind the document, builds member engagement and understanding of an increasingly important topic.

2. 02

   Regular reminders

   You may also want to nudge or ‘push’ members to that information by sending them a personalised marketing style email pointing them to these documents and other content that helps members to understand their pension better, in a more human way.

3. 03

   Refresh the digital experience

   Offer a secure and regularly maintained website that’s:

   • Mobile phone friendly
   • Intuitive and easy-to-navigate
   • A fresh and flexible template that can be adapted for a corporate or Trustee brand – it can be BIG or small
   • Has an unlimited number of pages and 24hr weekday support
   • Open access site or a personalised site (behind a log on).

4. 04

   Great content, and context

   Once you have a website, it is important to look at the language used in all pension communications, and breaking down all member tasks into bite sized steps.

   This type of approach can help you manage expectations, setting out timings, documents needed, and actions required, as well as things like turnaround times for each step.

   Online content should also look to give members the ‘words’ to unlock any actions they might need to access the contact centre, so they’re aware of what’s required of them before they make that call.

So, what now?

Is now a good time to consider the next version of your member experience? Perhaps it is, in order to continuously and consistently deliver a better pension member experience.

Although, you’ll first need to look at the key things you’d like members to do and translate them into terms they understand, perhaps on a new Embark site…And maybe it will make the tea as well!

Contact

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Bridget Keyes

Associate Director

email Email

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