A new software dedicated to the customer conversion
Joseph Konowiecki, CEO of Apollo Enterprise Solutions, Ltd. will have his company take part at Findating on June 22nd. His focus will be their new software, the TrueConversion platform. «It is a software system dedicated to the science of customer conversion. The AES software system emulates the persuasive power of the vast expert sales and customer service that a company has to offer and can be used in any channel of communication for a particular industry.
The AES System combines data analytics, behavioral psychology, linguistics and artificial intelligence to emotionally motivate people to do what they otherwise want to do. AES has a database of over 7000 behavioral, emotional triggers that allow individuals to start and finish any action in any communication channel».
In a world which is a lot more based on technology and AI, do emotions still play a big part?
«Absolutely. In 2002, the Nobel Peace prize for Economics was given to Psychologist Daniel Kahneman. His theory is that as much as we as a human species use our analytical thought processes to differentiate ourselves from the animal kingdom and to evolve as a human species (engineering, science etc,), we do not make any decisions based on our logical mind. All our decision-making is based on our emotions and we use logic to justify what we otherwise want to do. We incorporated that theory in our software.
We use behavioral science to predict the emotional triggers to cause people to act. We are a predictive technology by definition and then we use AI to try to define the actual success of those predictions. We get stronger results for customers that way».
How important is it to get personal and understand the needs of a single person in the Wealth Management Section?
«We’ve taken on a manager for the TrueWealth and the TrueFund products, Andreea Porcelli, and she’s had a lot of experience in this regard and can relate very well to the needs and the requirements of this sector».
You recently launched a pilot project for TrueWealth. How did you pick the clients to take part in the pilot?
«TrueWealth is aimed at fund managers of high net worth individuals, family offices etc. The integrated software system helps wealth managers attract and retain high net worth individuals as well as provide the ability to sell further products in their funds. We think that the TrueWeath market will be strong for fund management in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco as well as London and to some extent Italy. It’s really geography based.
Some of the larger fund management players are leaving the market primarily because of compliance issues with the new laws generated in the US in which they could be fined billions of dollars. These companies do not want to risk non-compliance anymore. They are going into roboinvesting and they are not really getting out of the high net worth fund management space. Portfolios have been sold by the likes of HSBC in Monaco and some of the other larger banks worldwide. This creates opportunity for other fund managers».
What kind of interest have you had so far?
«It’s interesting. To some extent, it’s a generational thing. People who are early baby boomers, those in their late 50’s to mid-70’s, are not quite understanding this whole tidal wave of what we call Consumer Experience Management. Gardner predicts for instance that by 2020, 85 percent of all dealings by an individual with an enterprise will be done digitally. That hasn’t yet been completely understood by some of the early baby boomers.
On the other hand, Generation Xers, those in their 40s or early 50s, that are dealing with family offices and high net worth individuals, are experiencing that millennials are coming in and getting involved in a wealth family’s investment decisions. The old way of doing things, taking them to lunch on Friday or meeting for drinks, do not work for millennials. They do not want to do business that way. They want a 24/7 capability of communicating by using their phones via e-mail or SMS. If you don’t make yourself relevant to them consistently with a customer experience marketing capability, these millennials are going to go elsewhere.
The activity varies depending on the generational aspect of the fund manager. What we can say, based on our experience in other sectors, whether in financial services origination, or payment and collection, or in health care origination or in retail origination, we have real case studies where the system has proven material positive results versus live agents».
What kind of feedback are you expecting?
«We are experiencing very positive feedback and results that will increase not only the attraction but the retention of high net worth clients. I’ve met with a very well established and very large Swiss fund, and immediately they said they needed to do this because the millennials are coming into the fold. A couple of the large families they had represented for years had actually moved assets out of the fund because they are not relevant to this new group.
We think that we can help them in the acquisition of clients, as well as in retaining them».
Ms. Porcelli: «Our Platinum launch program will include up to 20 family offices and wealth managers. It will be launched in Switzerland, Luxembourg, UK, Monaco and Italy and we are very excited. It’s a unique territory which we know very well and we feel it’s very ripe for this type of software platform».
What do you think the role of the human beings will be in the near future?
«I think people will be more effective with their time. They will use technology to convey their message, but they still need to provide the personal touch. That is going to vary depending on the cohort of the individual, whether they are from Milano, Rome, Zurich or Geneva. Personalization is still necessary and I do not think that technology alone will be able to provide all that is necessary to get people to trust you and like you».
Ms Porcelli, what do you think is the biggest change that AI will bring?
«I think the biggest opportunity in the wealth management sector is for wealth managers to communicate more effectively than they have previously. Those managers that capture the opportunity are the ones that are going to capture the business. I’ve been in the field myself for 22 years and I’ve seen it change tremendously.
The reality is that most people who know how to do wealth management really don’t know how to communicate effectively across all the different channels that are now available to us. This is what we bridge with the TrueWealthManager˜™ software».
Mr Konowiecki, do you think there is anything negative relating to the world of AI?
«I think some people are fearful, overwhelmed and scared by what AI means. They are afraid they may need to hire an expert, or spend a lot of money. We’ve come up with a fully integrated system that has both CRM- content relationship management, CMS – content management system – as well as an app and full system integration, to make it easy for wealth managers to move forward and extinguish their fears.
That’s probably my biggest observation».
What do you think the next steps will be for technology in your field?
«I think the next step will be the need to have a fully automated ability to create cohorts and to pinpoint how to really communicate with that cohort.
This ability to use behavioral science encourage people to act will only get stronger».
Did you need a lot of study in the field of behavioral science?
«As a company, we’ve pulled research from over 250 separate resources and we had our findings peer-reviewed by experts in the field. It’s been a collaborative effort in that regard.
I believe that behavioral science is a very well researched science in the world and we shouldn’t shy away from this field. It just allows us to better understand who we are and what motivates us as individuals».
What do you think is the importance of taking part in events like Findating?
«I think that exposure is always positive and it allows us in a very specific way to offer our Company’s unique positioning»
Joseph Konowiecki
CEO of Apollo Enterprise Solutions, Ltd.