Superannuation funds can save hundreds of thousands of dollars in administration if they push to engage members through social media, according to Deloitte partner and senior leader in online practice Katherine Milesi.
Speaking at a Deloitte breakfast in Melbourne, Milesi said superannuation funds thinking about engaging customers through online means could save vast amounts of money, as well as boost productivity and encourage more innovation.
In a case study of a superannuation fund using social media, Milesi said the super fund was shaving nearly $500,000 off the costs of updating client information by using a client self-service platform.
Half of those savings just came from giving the client the ability to change their details online, she said.
Only 10 per cent of their clients were on that portal, she said.
Cost savings would become substantial as clients migrate to online portals, she said.
Superannuation funds could also provide online information to associated advisers without the need for reams of paper production – boosting productivity, Milesi said.
Super funds should also consider crowd-sourcing to encourage innovation and refine ideas, she said.
"It's not just in our own organisations that we need to have these ideas and test them and adjust them, we can actually bring people in," she said.
Superannuation funds should prioritise the needs of their members if they can't serve everyone's all the time, she added.
