Principal Times, a joint initiative of Principal Mutual Fund and Cafemutual, aims to provide a platform for IFAs to share their knowledge with each other. In this edition of the ‘Principal Business Champions – Winning Ideas’ contest, advisors share with us how having a website has benefitted their business.
While we received a tremendous response from the IFA community, here are the entries that received the highest votes.
Winner on Website: Pratik Sepuri, iArista Artha Solutions, Mumbai
Having a website helped me tap retail clients
After leaving a wealth management firm, I started on my own in 2016 with an aim to help my clients lead a happy life. In the beginning, most of my clients were HNIs. While I wanted to service retail clients, the servicing cost was prohibitive. For an SIP of Rs.10,000, I had to bear servicing cost of close to Rs.2,000 for client meetings in coffee shops/restaurants, documentation and hiring a person to collect the paperwork.
Over the months, we realised that if we go digital, we can bring down such costs drastically. As a result, we integrated our website with BSE Star and started eKYC in March 2017. Simultaneously, we started doing IAPs for corporates for new client acquisition. Eventually, we saw that we are able to quickly on-board new clients at a zero cost. In fact, we have added assets of Rs.20 crore in just a year.
Moreover, our website has helped us cater to clients outside Mumbai. Of the 120 clients I have, 18 clients stay overseas while another 24 clients are outside Mumbai. With technology and systems in place, these clients can easily view their portfolios and transact online from my website.
Winner on Twitter: CK Vanitha, cProfit Investment Centre, Bengaluru
I get three leads weekly through the website
We have a ‘Contact us’ section on our website. This has helped generate new leads for our business. Every week, on an average, three prospective clients send an enquiry to us on the website to which we respond with an introductory mail. This has helped us acquire new clients. Today, we cater to 1100 clients and manage assets of Rs. 350 crore across mutual funds, direct equities and corporate bonds.
Our website has also helped us address client queries quickly. Most clients have general queries regarding account statement, NAV and so on. Since we have a robust CRM system, we keep these details handy to resolve such queries on time. In fact, we have a dedicated team who ensure that we resolve their queries within a day. Our clients value this a lot.
Winner on Facebook: Virendra Ranawat, MySIPonline, Udaipur
Website has helped me cater to investors across geographies
Sitting in Udaipur, I can tap new clients across the country thanks to our website. Out of my 20,000 clients, just 500 are from Udaipur. Most of my clients live in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. Having just an offline distribution platform would have limited my business to Udaipur and neighbouring towns. However, the website has dissolved geographical barriers to the business.
In addition, our website offers tools such as SIP and goal calculators to guide investors on how to go about building a portfolio. We also offer online transaction facility to our clients. In the last two years, our clients have completed over 70,000 to 80,000 online transactions. Having a robust transaction platform allows us to on-board savvy investors who want minimum interaction.
