Even before Covid-19 prompted a frenzy for global businesses to go digital while investing in hires’ re/upskilling, education and training have long been part of the professional conversation.
But beyond educating in-house talent, some innovative organisations, such as FinTech company NAGA, are charting a dedicated course towards client skilling, integrating all the latest engagement innovations that hail from the world of tech.
As a leading multi-asset neo‑broker, powered by a social network, NAGA’s investment in client education makes perfect sense in terms of generating a powerful CX, suited to their brand.
To get a more detailed sense of what that investment entails, we put the following questions to the company’s Director of Education Andreas Thalassinos.
When organisations talk about education, they always refer to skilling their employees. But NAGA also invests in customer skilling. What are the benefits of such client-targeted education?
“In the world of financial markets, knowledge is crucial. At NAGA, we are committed to creating and offering our clients high-quality trading education, so that each individual trader prepares themselves before entering the markets, to acquire confidence to be able to face any adverse situation that may arise.”
What are the basic skills needed for successful trading?
“The key skills a trader needs are: a solid trading system, risk management rules and self-discipline.
“A trading system contains all the rules needed to enter the market by buying and/or selling as well as to exit the market with either a small loss or a profit.
“Risk management will safeguard trader’s capital, by understanding all possible risks; traders are able to use tools such as a protective stop-loss, profit-taking and position size, in order to protect their capital as much as possible.
“Discipline is another key ingredient, so traders are able to follow the system and the corresponding risk management rules. Without self-discipline, emotions – either positive or negative – will start affecting a trader’s decisions.
“Usually traders, especially beginners, fail due to lack of at least one or more of these key ingredients. So, the best thing anyone can do is first invest in knowledge and education before starting to trade.”
What are the skill gaps among experienced traders and beginners?
“The financial markets have been glamourised over the years on the internet as an easy way to make money, without underlining the importance of education, which is imperative. Unfortunately, many people enter the markets with minimal or no knowledge at all and the result is negative.
“At NAGA, we aim to provide our clients with all the necessary tools, information, education and support so that they can enjoy and experience an empowered trading journey.”
Is client skilling a standard practice or a relatively new trend?
“Permit me to say that, as a veteran educator, I have seen wrong information going around. A lot of copy-paste that magnifies false, invalid information, and self-proclaimed gurus pretending to know it all, but failing to ensure their audience understand or learn the basics.
“At NAGA, we believe information in training and education should be correct, based on valid information, transmitted in an easy-to-understand way, so that all traders – especially beginners – understand, learn and prepare to invest in the financial markets. We offer varied and engaging educational resources, breaking down the terminology and fundamental concepts of trading.”
How has client skills-training evolved over the years? What do you offer now that tech limitations didn’t allow you to offer previously?
“Today’s content created by trading professionals provides clients of all levels with advanced educational materials on trading in the form of webinars, eBooks, videos, video tutorials, articles, manuals and on-location seminars and workshops – all of which are translated into many different languages.”
We’ve heard a lot, lately, about the Metaverse – how will it change the experience of trading?
“The whole idea of the Metaverse, makes us feel that we’re already living in the future! This is state-of-the-art-technology we are talking about, and it will definitely create an extraordinary experience for users.
“The whole trading experience will also evolve. We already have a strong community of traders on NAGA’s pioneering trading platform, where users exchange views, ideas, tips on a daily basis. All this, in future, will take place in a Virtual Reality format – and the new classroom will be accessible via 3D equipment. This will bring people closer and create a new way of conducting business, interacting and socialising.”
Do you find that younger traders need different training as compared to older generations?
“If we look at the way the younger generation uses the internet and social media, we find Millennials and Gen Z use technology and social media to their advantage, whether in education, entertainment, communication – everything. Therefore, we need to adjust our educational materials, so this new group of traders learns in their natural habitat.”
Which other business sectors need to educate their clients?
“One of the most significant pillars on which any business is built, is the trust between the client and the company. With this in mind, all industries should focus on client education for products and services they offer. By showing interest and putting effort into educating clients, companies can take one step further and beyond to create a long-lasting relationship with them.”
What are the future developments you are most excited about?
“I’m very excited about the latest technologies, such as the Metaverse, NFTs and Blockchain.
“The adoption of Metaverse in the next few years will change the way we work, socialise, conduct business and play online. This will include aspects from gaming, which makes sense in considering the gaming industry is built on a high-tech infrastructure – and that may be used in other areas as well.
“I foresee that soon 2D conferencing platforms will be replaced by 3D gatherings – imagine working remotely while attending an online meeting in a virtual room with your co-workers, and having the feeling and experience that you are physically there with them! The same goes for education, sightseeing in a foreign country, visiting a museum, shopping in a supermarket, the list is endless.
“Another development that we should keep an eye on is the NFTs, the Non-Fungible Tokens, which are unique digital assets, such as art, music, etc. These may be created and tokenised on the blockchain to secure authenticity and ownership, opening new ways, for example, for digital artists to create digital assets and sell them to collectors. This is powered by blockchain technology – the smart contracts that safeguard the authenticity and ownership of assets, in a decentralised way.
“Given that all this is taking place online, in a virtual mode, means technology will continue to be the ultimate game-changer.”