Defined contribution participants are becoming more demandingwhen it comes to the “customer experience,” and their401(k) plans are no exception.

That's according to a research paper from Broadridge, which said that a “revolution” is underwayin the retirement industry as new tools and technologies providenot just new ways for providers to interact with participants, buthigher standards on the part of those participants who have becomeused to customized interactions and multichannel methods ofcommunication.

The focus on “customer experience,” coming as it does along withdigital marketing's rise, has resulted in a similar approach byretirement plan providers: the “participant experience.”

Broadridge, which has championed the improvement of communicationsand the use of digital applications for some time, has come up with10 best practices in participant experience design that itsays are being “used by leading providers across the industry tocreate strong participant experiences.”

1. Offer encouragement and support for automaticprograms.

A complete overhaul of the participant experience related toautomatic-enrollment, contribution escalation, QDIA investing,reenrollment, reinstatement, and other types of automatic featuresis in order.

Streamline the process, cutting steps and possibleconfusion.

Take another look at what information is being provided, andwhen it's offered, as well as any other decisions involved inconducting the “automatic” transaction.

2. Use personalized retirement income projections foreach participant.

Create personal retirement income projections for participantsthat look at the whole picture, not just the plan.

Projections should also take into account participant-providedinformation and other purchased information.

3. Display interactive calculators and tools to allowthe participant to personalize the projections with moreinformation.

Tools should ask for true profiling information and be able tostore the data so that later calculations will be based on a morecomplete picture of the participant's situation.

4. Offer a personalized “next best step” messagingapproach to communications.

Communications shouldn't just rely on plan data, but should alsoalways use all known information as well as predictive personainformation to offer personalized “next best step” guidance atevery interaction.

5. Create a multichannel participant experience designwith a balance of person-to-person and digitalinteractions.

Create linked channels to easily access participants via phone,social media, chat or scheduled appointment. Enable digitalinteractions simultaneously with person-to-person.

6. Use personalized and targeted campaigns (digital andprint) supplemented with life stage and life event content andmessaging.

Employ predictive analytics and trigger points to offerpersonalized messages that are appropriate for the participant'ssituation at the time. Always include next best step guidance.

7. Create “People like me” benchmarks andcomparisons.

Create the capability to present peer group comparisons andbenchmarks within plans or across plans to help participants knowwhere they stand relative to peers in similar situations.

8. Offer access to nancial wellness and investmentadvice programs.

Don't just rely on third-party partnerships.

Go beyond to offer truly integrated experiences across selectpartners by sharing data, offering integrated access, andpresenting unied guidance and perspectives.

9. Utilize tracking of participant engagement acrosschannels.

Use the data from your own platforms to get a more complete andaccurate measurement of channel usage at a participant level,across channels and by type of interaction.

10. Use dashboards and digitally delivered analytics forthe plan sponsor.

Make sure sponsors understand how the plan is performing againstthese new participant experience metrics, providing data andanalytics in easy-to-use formats with drill-down capabilities aboutparticipant activities, engagement, enjoyment, and outcomes.