The WorkPlay401(k) Participant Engagement Playbook goes step-by-step on how to engage 401(k) participants by making the educational process personal, inspiring action, and being an accountability partner.
2. An engaged participant is...
An engaged participant is one who takes advantage of the resources offered by
their advisor and takes actions that result in progress towards their financial goals.
3. More engagement = more clients
Engaged
Participants
Better
Outcomes
Great
Metrics
More
Business
5. Get to the wow
Software development has a concept called "getting to the wow." What that means
is that as soon as possible after someone starts using the software they see
something that causes them to say "wow" which keeps them coming back (AKA
engagement).
1. Introduce yourself
2. Explain how the 401(k)
works
3. Motivate them to get
started
4. Show them something
amazing
6. Introduce yourself
Relationships exist between people and building relationships is the only sure way
of increasing participant engagement.
When taking over a plan or enrolling new participants send each employee an
email (addressed to them) that simply tells them who are, what they can expect,
and how to get in contact with you. Don't make it too salesy or formal. Write like
you would to a good acquaintance or a friend. Be genuine and offer to help.
7. Introductory videos
You can use the same content from that email to create a simple video that you
send out to new participants.
Create a different video for each plan so that it feels more personal for the
employees. You don't need flashy graphics or post-production because you are
trying to start a relationship with the participant rather than selling them something.
8. Motivation
1. Make it positive
○ Focus on what they can do rather than what they did not do.
2. Keep it simple
○ One thing at a time. (e.g. Giving fund prospectuses to someone who hasn't enrolled is going to
get them thinking that they need to read all of them before signing up.) Let them peel back the
layers of the onion when they are ready.
3. Celebrate each step
○ Reinforce the positivity by bringing attention to their progress.
9. Show them something amazing
● A personal financial assessment and action plan
● The path to becoming debt free
● FI/RE (Financial Independence/Retire Early)
● The impact of fees
● The power of compounding!
11. Slow and steady wins the race
Participant communications should:
● Be gradual
○ Too much too quickly will overwhelm the participant but, at the same time, too much time
between communications will lead to a drop in engagement.
● Short
○ A lot of us see a wall of text and do not even start reading. If you have a lot of text make good
use of headlines, section headlines, white space, and lists.
● Cover one topic
○ You can cover more than one thing in a meeting but handouts and emails are more effective if
they cover one topic succinctly.
● Be personal
○ As much as possible use the participant's real name and their real figures.
12. Create a schedule
Write down each participant communication, how it will be delivered (in person,
email, handout, etc.), and when it will be delivered (e.g. group meeting + 3 days).
Make sure there are no large gaps as steady communications keep engagement
levels up.
You can use an email marketing automation platform to automatically send an
email on a specific date or by using triggers (e.g. customer visited rollover page so
send email one week later offering to help them complete it if they have not
already done so).
13. Content calendar
Internet marketers use what is called a "content calendar" in order to schedule their
upcoming emails, blog posts, videos, podcasts, ebooks, and any other content that
they share. Putting it on a calendar helps them ensure they are regularly putting out
content as well as giving them deadlines to meet.
You can create a shared calendar in Outlook, Google, or a tool such as Trello (my
favorite) for your participant communications. Hold a brainstorming session and fill
it in.
14. Personalized content
Possible ways to make your content personal:
● When possible address content to each individual participant. You can use
mail merge or a marketing automation platform to achieve this.
● Use recordkeeper data to individualize handouts and ensure that participants
are only receiving handouts applicable to them (e.g. not sending a handout
about catch-up contributions to someone in their 20s).
● Create a series of participant profiles and customize content for each. For
example:
○ 30-40, no kids, rents
○ 30-40, no kids, owns
○ 30-40, kids, rents
○ 30-40, kids, owns
16. Be an accountability partner
The closer someone feels to somebody else the more likely they are to be
influenced by them. This undermines the importance of building relationships by:
● Maintaining a friendly, personal tone to your interactions whether that be
in-person, via phone, email, or handouts
● Making communications one-to-one instead of one-to-many (you can use
software to automate this to a certain extent)
● Following-up on a regular basis
17. The accountability process
1. Discuss their goals
2. Ask them what specific steps they can take to achieve those goals
○ Make this a conversation. By them participating in the planning, rather than it all coming from
you, it will be more personal.
3. Show what will happen if they take action and what will happen if they do not
○ Projections help but numbers become more abstract the further away the goal is (e.g.
retirement). Frame the projections in examples (e.g. your home will be paid off and will be able
to take one vacation a year).
4. Check-in regularly on their progress
5. Offer encouragement if they are falling behind
6. Celebrate the tiny wins
○ Celebrating progress reinforces positive behaviour and creates momentum.
18. Celebrating the tiny wins
With daily reporting from the recordkeeper you can program triggers to notify you
or email the participant when:
● They increase their deferrals
● They hit specific balance milestones for the first time ($5k, $10k, $25k, etc.)
● When they pay off a loan
● When they complete a rollover
● When they are on track for retirement!
19. Answers on demand
Make it easy for participants to get the information they need when they need it.
● FAQ/Knowledge base
● Prominent links to the most common tasks (enrollment, rollovers, loans,
distribution, deferral changes, investment changes)
● Web chat
● In app messaging (offer guidance on specific pages or triggers)
● Call center
