WUA! conducts annual research into the orientation behavior of consumers looking for a payment account. March 2016 marked a first, as the orientation behavior of freelancers (ZZP'ers) was studied for the first time. For this research, 200 freelancers explored business payment accounts on desktop. This article examines the results of this research.
Major banks dominate
Just like in the desktop and smartphone consumer research for payment accounts, the major banks are well represented in the top 3. ING.nl takes first place with 80 points, closely followed by Rabobank.nl (79 points). ABNAMRO.nl claims third place with 77 points. Notable: while SNSBank.nl scored very well among consumers, the Utrecht-based bank finishes last among freelancers with a meager score of 60 points.
Preference: The potential is enormous
In the research, freelancers were asked to indicate which provider was their first preference. Knab.nl, ING.nl and Rabobank.nl proved to be the big winners with a total of 63%. However, it's much more interesting to see how many freelancers give a provider their second preference. Why is this so interesting? Because it clearly shows what the total potential first preference is! The research reveals that on average, the second preference is as large (!) as the first preference. In short, a provider that manages to convert freelancers' second preference to first preference will be rewarded with significant customer growth.
How do you find out why a freelancer doesn't choose you but prefers to open their payment account with a competitor? By simply asking! That's why WUA! includes the following question in its research: "What would number 2 need to improve to become number 1?" What could that entail? In this best practice, we share 3 tips.
1 Ensure optimal accessibility
Freelancers highly value being able to quickly and easily contact their payment account provider when needed.
Anyone thinking that accessibility mainly involves visiting a physical and local bank branch is mistaken. The two providers without local bank branches, Triodos.nl and Knab.nl, score highest when it comes to contact options. The verdict from a potential customer who visited and evaluated Knab.nl: "Good accessibility, generous opening hours (7 days a week, until 10 PM)."
Source: Knab.nl
2 Offer the clearest possible application process
Ideally, applying for a business payment account should be as clear, simple and fast as possible. Open responses from respondents show that not everyone is satisfied with the ease of applying for a payment account.
Freelancers miss the ability to complete the application process entirely online. The application requires, for example, a phone appointment (Rabobank.nl), sending paper documents (Triodos.nl) or a live appointment to verify identity details (ABNAMRO.nl). These detours make it more effort to open a payment account. They also don't help the total processing time. Moreover, people often lose track of the process. In the words of some respondents:
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"No clear picture of further progress." (Knab.nl)
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"The application is very short, the follow-up is not entirely clear to me." (Rabobank.nl)
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"No end date or feedback on when the account will be opened." (ABNAMRO.nl)
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"If you open an account online, it takes 2 days. Way too long." (ING.nl)
In short, there's still plenty of room for improvement for all providers to make the application process more customer-friendly.
Source: Triodos.nl
Source: ABNAMRO.nl
3 Provide an offering tailored to freelancers
Among freelancers exploring the offerings, SNSBank.nl and Knab.nl make the strongest impression. Both banks know how to address freelancers well and directly. Knab.nl clearly displays the MoneyView product rating on its website, clearly demonstrating that Knab offers the most affordable business account. SNSBank.nl prominently features the SNS ZZP Account on its Business Banking page. Below is the ranking for the "Offering" theme in the exploration phase:
Besides directly and clearly addressing the target group, both banks succeed in making their attractive offering clearly understandable. At Knab.nl, many respondents appreciate the clear explanation of the offering and the fact that the first 1,000 transactions are free: "You know exactly what it costs you and how many transactions are possible without extra costs."
Source: Knab.nl
SNSBank.nl performs well in offerings among freelancers partly because the bank offers interest on the payment account and provides selection guidance when choosing the most suitable payment account.
