Equity begins with access. But for countless small business employees, low-wage, and part-time workers, saving for retirement includes high barriers to entry. Many private sector employers simply don’t sponsor a plan.
State-Facilitated Retirement Savings Programs (SFRPs) are attempting to address this retirement savings gap. As the largest independent retirement and savings services provider in the U.S., our client Ascensus is at the forefront of administering the nation’s first SFRPs.
Ascensus and WillowTree, a TELUS Digital Company, have enjoyed a longstanding partnership. Following a successful mobile app delivery and marketing push that began in 2019, Ascensus embarked in late 2021 on an overhaul of its existing employer registration and onboarding web platform.
With the nation’s first three SFRPs launched — and based on feedback from thousands of employers — Ascensus was looking to improve customer satisfaction and gain insights on how self service options could increase registrations, enable account management, and boost overall employers’ and employees’ financial health.
Ascensus sought our team’s web expertise and product development best practices as they set out to build their first large-scale web platform for managing retirement savings. With a big ‘Wave 3’ of more than 250,000 employers set to register for the CalSavers SFRP by June 30, Ascensus sought to support their contact centers and upgrade customer experience by enabling employers' full self service capabilities.
The clock was ticking. We got to work.
Digital strategy consulting: Leveraging research to reduce call volume
To understand pain points in Ascensus' existing digital touchpoints, our team dove into qualitative research, including:
- Facilitating our Outcomes Workshops with Ascensus stakeholders to align on North Star outcomes
- Interviewing Ascensus call center representatives to identify common issues customers faced during registration and onboarding
- Conducting user interviews with a diverse cross-section of employers and HR/payroll professionals to unpack their challenges
Through these exercises, we identified key pain points aligned with possible call reduction strategies:
- Employer registration flow generated high call volume, indicating a need to simplify
- Language around pay cycles was confusing for employers
- Employers wanted more intuitive self service options to reduce the need for phone calls
The strategy was clear: a streamlined registration process would boost employer enrollment, minimize inbound calls, and optimize the overall user experience.
“Employers’ early experiences with the program are essential to its success. We brought in WillowTree’s expertise and capability because we wanted to be sure that every employer — from large corporations to small mom-and-pop shops — would have the most supportive and seamless experience possible.”
Brand and experience design: Empowering employers with simplified user experience
Armed with research insights, our designers created concepts to overhaul the employer onboarding experience and its impact on call centers:
- A redesigned dashboard eliminated the complexity of the registration flow
- Revised pay cycle website copy and related content clarified the process for employers
- Additional features amplifying self-service drove call reduction, easing the burden on customer service reps
Our end-to-end design work was completed in only 10 weeks. Usability testing confirmed these new designs reduced employers' challenges, leading to increased interest and higher potential for plan adoption.
The designs enabled a more frictionless process for employers to register and provide employee details to enroll them in the state-facilitated retirement programs.
Digital product development: Building an Intuitive Web Platform
With a design vision in place, our team created development-ready assets for Ascensus’ web platform. Further user feedback and A/B testing ensured that all user challenges were addressed before launch.
Our initial approach focused on California, but our vision quickly shifted to Illinois and other states at the forefront of the SFRP movement. The goal was to equip Ascensus with a consistent set of tools that are seamless to customize and update as dozens of new states inevitably come into the fold and adopt SFRPs.
New digital experiences rolled out, featuring:
- A new, user-friendly employer dashboard
- Simplified employer registration flow
- Clear tooltips and help messaging for self-service
These steps culminated in a digital transformation that offered employers easy and efficient ways to enroll their employees while optimizing customer support. Greatly increasing adoption rates will exponentially impact employees who previously lacked access to crucial savings plans.
Results: Revolutionizing retirement services
Ascensus and their state partners have now doubled their combined assets under administration since the start of 2023 — surpassing $1 billion — due to an influx of newly registered employers.
“While the $1 billion mark is an exciting threshold, what’s even more encouraging is that this represents nearly 650,000 savers — many who are saving for retirement for the first time,” said Peg Creonte, president of Ascensus Government Savings.
The newly built employer portal has played a key role in this increase in successful registrations, as well as a noteworthy reduction in the time required to complete key enrollment steps, vastly improving the registration process across major metrics:
- 100% increase in combined assets under management, representing 650,000 savers
- 24% uptick in SFRP employer enrollment
- 600% surge in employers completing same-day enrollment
- $1M annual reduction in operating costs attributed to decreased call center volume
New user-friendly platforms signified a monumental shift for Ascensus, placing greater financial power into the hands of workers previously devoid of such access.
The digital products, while focused on individual user experience and customer support, collectively pave the way for Ascensus to revolutionize the retirement savings landscape.
As Ascensus continues its journey to provide cutting-edge digital experiences to its users, we’re proud to be its trusted partner in creating an empowering ecosystem for retirement savings. Together, we’re elevating user experiences and making retirement planning more accessible for all.
“WillowTree, a TELUS Digital Company, has been an unequivocal delight to work with. Their total engagement to completely understand our customers, users, and businesses has been unparalleled. I have found the entire team to be consummate professionals, with the highest levels of intellectual curiosity along with top-notch design and research skills.”
