“Nobody else is really providing customer surveys exclusively for financial advisors,” said Starcey. “It’s the only industry we work with. Our questions have been developed to deliver that so these [financial] firms can track and get a handle on what is becoming a vital part of their business.”
What Helps NEXA Stand Out
Manker says that one of their largest competitors is SurveyMonkey. However, unlike that online survey tool, NEXA’s surveys are industry-specific in that the firm’s data visualization package and analytics dashboard are developed specifically for advisors.
The success of NEXA’s platform involves focusing on 3 key areas.
First, its team works hard on the questions in surveys. People don’t want to spend 20–30 minutes filling out a survey. NEXA constructs industry-specific, tested, concise questions (15 – 20 is the recommended number) that enable clients to complete the survey in 3 – 5 minutes.
As the data is collected, the firm thoroughly analyzes the information in order to provide valuable information to advisors.
The third part of NEXA’s success is visualization. Manker says that the company gets great feedback on its UX.
“Advisors and their staff love the visualization,” said Manker. “They love the dashboard. It’s very intuitive. You can, drill down into the information from any level in order to see the details you need.”
Manker believes that these three pieces—meaningful survey, in-depth data analysis, and clear visualization—are what makes the platform stand out.
How NEXA Helps Advisors
Based on the information from surveys, NEXA calculates a net promoter score and shows how engaged the clients are with the advisor or advisory firm. Advisors can see more than just an overall score—they can see results and comments by individual client.
“[Advisors] may do really well with communication but their technology is scoring fairly low, so that’s an area that they work on,” said Starcey.
NEXA’s analytics also allow advisors to see segmented views of their clients. For example, baby boomers may respond differently than millennials, males differently than females, and differences may also occur between people who have been with the service longer versus those who are newer.
This information enables advisors to address a particular area of their service.
“We’re big believers that this is something that firms should be doing on an annual basis,” said Starcey. “They should always track it so they can trend and see: Are we moving in the right direction on these areas we’re working on?”
NEXA also alerts advisors to specific scenarios that concern assets and asset categories at risk. Manker explained that a small group of clients may intend to move their assets to another firm, and advisors usually have no idea until it happens. Surveys can frequently predict this.
“And at that point, it’s usually just a matter of getting on a phone call, resolving the situation, and retaining those assets,” said Manker. “It seems like every single survey we do, there’s more than enough retention game to pay for the entire survey.”