Every Pension Awareness Week, the industry focuses on getting people to engage with their pension. We create campaigns ✔️, simplify communications ✔️, produce videos, webinars and tools ✔️.
But what happens when someone actually decides to engage?
In recent conversations, we’ve heard the same frustration repeatedly: “I tried to log in, couldn’t remember my password, got locked out and gave up.”
That should concern all of us. Think about the effort we expect from members:
- Find the portal
- Remember their username
- Reset a forgotten password
- Navigate security questions
- Unlock an account
Every additional step creates another opportunity for someone to abandon the journey. We often focus on getting members to click the link. Far less attention is paid to what happens next.
If a member decides to engage but encounters friction at the point of access, we’ve wasted all the effort that came before.
As we discussed in our recent blog on Removing Redundant Processes in the Digital Age – Simplify Consulting, engagement isn’t a single interaction. It’s the sum of every touchpoint in the member journey. The simplest barriers can have the biggest impact on outcomes.
Pension schemes aren’t competing against other pension schemes. They’re competing against every seamless digital experience members use every day.
This Pension Awareness Week, it might be worth asking a simple question:
How easy is it for a member to log in and take action?
Because if accessing pension information feels harder than online banking, shopping online or booking a holiday, engagement becomes much harder to achieve. Successful engagement requires both effective messaging and a seamless user experience.
At Simplify Consulting, we believe engagement should be measured across the whole member journey. Not just whether someone clicks an email, but whether they can successfully take the action that follows.
Nina Cherry
Wealth Consultant
