Your investor relations site remains one of the most important touchpoints of your IR strategy to date. It’s the single-most trusted news source regarding your investment proposition, brand history, and financials.
Your choice of IR partner determines how quickly this information gets online and how reliably it remains live. Only investor websites built to succeed address speed, technical support, and customer service in the following ways.
1. Speed
You need a website that keeps pace with the fast-paced world of capital markets. People expect immediate access to information online, no matter what side of the screen you’re on — whether you’re an IRO or institutional investor.
When comparing providers, consider their commitment to uptime in the following three areas:
Launch Time
Launch time refers to how quickly an IR firm can get your website live. If you aren’t careful, your site designer can get caught in the weeds of design, delaying your launch by several weeks.
This development speed is set at a snail’s pace in the world of SPACs and IPOs. A best-in-class partner should be able to get your site live and running within seven days without sacrificing design or functionality.
Resolution Timeframes
No IR site will run perfectly in perpetuity. Bugs or glitches will inevitably come along, causing your team to send an IT ticket to your provider. It’s an inevitable, albeit infrequent, reality of working with any software — not just IR tech.
The question becomes how quickly your provider responds to these requests. Top-of-class firms should resolve support tickets within 24 hours. This rapid resolution time is only possible if they provide a client success team available during your trading hours.
Revision Response
Your IR site isn’t static — it’s a living, breathing thing that needs frequent updates to reflect your brand’s story, financials, and initiatives. You should be able to make these updates at will, without wading through red tape and waiting half a day for these requests to take effect.
Again, this timeline is too slow for the capital markets landscape. You need to take action right away, so expect a response time of two hours or less.
2. Platform Support
With all this talk about tickets, it’s only natural that you expect ongoing support for the lifetime of your IR site. While you should be able to solve minor problems, such as editing or reviewing content, without directly contacting your IR firm, you should have access to a live support team for larger concerns.
White glove service is not the norm, but it should be. You should be able to talk to trained professionals within minutes, so they can address more complicated issues regarding your site.
3. Customer Service
You’ll be working closely with an IR expert and their site designers at every stage of the process — from the initial briefing and the eventual launch as you go live to ongoing technical support, as mentioned above.
With such a close working relationship, it’s important you like your providers. Customer service and satisfaction are important considerations, almost as much as the functionality and design of your site.
Keep this in mind as you vet partners — it’s just as much about character as it is about results.
Bottom Line:
Your value on the Street and targeting performance hinges on the success of your IR site. Make sure you partner with IR website providers that prioritize customer service, platform support, and speed.