How to secure trader loyalty as a broker
Author: Han Ong
The trading world is large and multifaceted. Brokers that compete for traders’ attention today face much more competition than they used to a decade ago. Traders have become more experienced and knowledgeable, and with countless opportunities around the world, they are less eager to stick with a broker.
However, it doesn’t mean that brokers should lose all hope. There are ways to boost and secure traders’ loyalty, and we will share them with you today.
#1 Transparency
Traders are knowledgeable these days, and actively seek out information about the process, the brokerage, and other industry-related topics. Brokers don’t necessarily have to share every single detail of their inner workflow, but being upfront and honest about critical information can help them win extra points.
Also, in the age of content, providing extra material for traders would make them feel like you care (assuming the materials are of good quality and make sense for traders). At TFB, for example, we post weekly blog articles for our clients with relevant topics about the industry and its latest trends, how-tos, and news about our company and products.
#2 High speed of trading
This may seem like an extremely obvious tip, but you’d be surprised how many brokerages still provide an infrastructure that doesn’t allow trading to be as fast as it theoretically could be.
It happens for multiple reasons. Some brokers believe more robust technology isn’t required, and things are fine as they are. Others aren’t aware that the process can be different because they’ve been operating a certain way for years. Lastly, there are concerns with budgets and the cost of upgrading, which, at least with TFB, is often far less than many anticipate.
#3 Multiple & unique services
A sure way to attract attenion, if not secure loyalty, are unique services
Brokerages generally all provide the same service. They help traders trade and make money. Naturally, they each do it differently, and those differences are created mainly by the technology they build their companies with.
So, even though brokers can differentiate themselves through the basics, such as a liquidity bridge that makes the trading process speedy and reliable, there are more creative ways to stand out.
At TFB, we offer two rather unique features that impress traders:
- Synthetic instruments – also known as synthetic liquidity. This helps brokers create new symbols and symbol pairs not typically available for trading.
- Over-the-weekend trading removes the obstacle for traders to trade outside traditional market hours. Many traders have day jobs and other reasons why trading Monday to Friday is fully or partially unavailable to them. Giving them access to trading on the weekend will help them differentiate their strategies, lower risks, and gain more. For some traders, it will make the difference between not trading at all to being able to do it in their free time.
#4 Reliability of the service
All the innovative and unique services your brokerage provides will mean nothing if your service is unreliable and fails traders during a trading session. Downtime and slight delays create financial and reputable risks for the broker, leading to traders missing out on opportunities.
So, before you work on all the extra bits, look into your tech environment and see if there are potential bottlenecks and other threats that can influence your setup’s performance. If you’re unsure how to analyse that, reach out to the TFB technical team, and they will be able to guide you and point you in the right direction.
#5 The best pricing
As we all know, the best pricing is subjective and means different things in different situations. However, brokers can still do their best to provide the best pricing to their traders using technology. The Trade Processor liquidity bridge, for example, offers six types of aggregation and consolidation that help accommodate various needs and keep traders happy. Another way to achieve the best pricing is through working with several liquidity providers (LPs) so you can choose the best offer from the pool available.
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