There is no proven way to build a custom financial information service; it’s too new. Nor can you buy one off the shelf, though Quadravision www.quadravision.com, builder of Fleet’s Personal Navigator (p.5) and Summit Bank’s Your File , is as far along as anyone.

But don’t worry. Microsoft and Netscape are making it easy for you to take small, or large, strides in the direction of custom information delivery. The two Internet powerhouses have already equipped the client-side (browser) with numerous features for customizing the Web experience (push, Java, ActiveX, cookies).

The challenge for Web publishers (that’s you) isn’t technology, it’s marketing. What content and info services should you develop (balance alerts, rate updates, portfolio monitoring)? How should it be delivered (e-mail, Web site, Webcast)? How should it be promoted (banners, Web partnerships, print ads)? How should it be priced (pay per view, subscription, bundled with other services)?

Here are the building blocks for a custom-information delivery program:

1. Web Site Registration: To provide relevant, customized financial services, you need to know when specific users are at your Web site. While it’s true that Web surfing is usually an anonymous activity, Web users will trade their anonymity for valuable services. Financial institutions have the perfect bargaining chip to entice users to identify themselves…account access.

Once users have identified themselves the first time, you can use cookies to monitor subsequent visits. Cookies are identifying bits of information passed from the user’s browser to your server automatically. (Note: Users have the ability to disable this function.)

Keep the initial profile brief, no more than one computer screen, so as not to scare away users. You will have plenty of opportunities in subsequent visits to ask additional questions. Fleet does a great job in this regard. And don’t ask for a bunch of detail you already have on file, except as necessary to positively ID the user. Here are a couple data points to gather during the initial profiling session:

• name, address, phone (to match against your file)
• e-mail addresses (ask for more than one)
• marital status
• children/ages
• homeowner status

Intuit’s QFN site www.qfn.com uses cookies to automatically identify Web visitors that previously completed a short profile. Note: (1) Schwab ad on top.(2) Stock quotes for up to five of your favorites.

2. Activation: Your first goal is to get your customer in the habit of using your online services. This will be a whole lot easier if you provide account access. You could instead build news and stock info services to gain repeat visitors, but you will be competing with the likes of Microsoft, CNN, US Today, and The New York Times. Another technique is to build a rich set of links to local content. But again you’ll be up against a slew of competitors.

Let’s assume you offer account access. Establish an account activation plan to ensure that initial registrants begin using your online services. For instance, if two weeks go by and a new user has yet to log-in to see their data, send an e-mail reminder. Reiterate the benefits and procedures and probe for concerns and questions. If another two weeks pass, escalate the communication with an e-mail and phone call (or snail mail). Continue the e-mails every two weeks until the user activates or opts out (always provide instructions in each e-mail on how to stop the flow of electronic communications). A similar program could be used for those who stop using your online services after a few sessions. You might want to try activation/usage incentives such as contests and freebies.

3. Begin an Online Dialogue (Feedback Loop): Once you are past the initial learning curve, engage your customers in an ongoing dialogue designed to help you deliver customized, relevant services to each user. Start by pointing out valuable services that match what you know about your customer. For example, tell homeowners about your refinance services. Users can do what-if calculations on your refi calculator or fill out an online form to request an evaluation by one of your mortgage lenders. Let users choose whether they prefer to be contacted by e-mail or phone.

Since you are creating a dialogue with customers (which means listening not just telling), you’ll want to include a feedback mechanism in every communication. Ask the homeowners what they think of your refi tools. Were they helpful? Should they be changed or improved?

You’ll also want to track the closure rate of your financial advisory services. How many users visited your refi calculator after hearing about it in an e-mail? What types of calculations were performed? Where did they go next? Did they apply for a loan? Did it close?

Warning: You have the ability to record and store individual user inputs to your financial calculators and worksheets. We advice against doing so unless you disclose it ahead of time and provide an opt-out. Privacy issues on the Web are top-of-mind right now and you don’t want to be flogged in the media for a perceived infraction. Position data storage as a benefit, “saves time doing future calculations”, and you will get plenty of takers.

4. Offer Customized Advice/Solutions. To boost your share of customer, recommend solutions targeted directly to the individual user, incorporating everything you know about them. And make it easy to accept your advice (see 5 below).

For example, don’t just promote home equity loans to homeowners as a group. Develop specific debt-reduction plans centered around home equity. Propose actual loan amounts that would work within the bounds of the user’s estimated available home equity. Show how the user’s total after-tax monthly payment would decrease. And allow users to play around with the loan size/term/rate to develop the optimal solution.

5. Ask for the Sale: The Web is a great place for consultative selling. But don’t forget the selling part. It’s easy to get so caught up in providing valuable services to that you neglect the close. We’ve seen hundreds of loan calculators on the Web. But how many make us want to buy? Even a simple “apply for this loan now” button would be an improvement. Even better, a little hard-sell to get some action, “apply today and receive a new Iomega Zip drive,” for example

Here are some options to present users after they use an online calculator, complete an online worksheet, or otherwise indicate an interest in your loan products:

• apply now online
• apply now by printing the application and completing it by hand (mail or fax back)
• apply now by phone (have someone call)
• apply now in person (have someone call to set up an appointment)
• apply later online and save my inputs
• put me on your homeowners mail list to keep me informed of any new developments (lower rates, bank specials, etc.)
• let me know when rates hit xx% so that I can consider a refi at that time
• I am interested but have the following question, please e-mail/phone to discuss
• I am not ready to apply today, contact me at a later date (provide choices for next contact)
• I don’t want to tie a loan to my home equity, what other options do you offer
• I know someone else looking for a loan, contact them at this e-mail/phone number
• thanks for the info but I am not interested for the following reasons (provide a checklist of reasons)
• please don’t contact me