Building Blocks of Happy Customers in the Banking Sector
The value of a great customer experience (CX) cannot be taken for granted. CX directly impacts retention, loyalty, and revenue growth for any business, especially for financial institutions in the digital era with the emergence of NBFCs and Neo Banks. With competition on the rise and customer expectations rising, banks must prioritize CX to add value across all touchpoints of their customer’s journey.
69% of customers switch to a different bank after a bad customer experience
The above stat is a testimony to support the argument that customer-centricity should be at the core of building business strategies. Customers today have a plethora of banking options available at their disposal, and it is only by delivering positive CX that financial institutions can build brand affinity and create loyalty. Banks can simplify complex banking processes and make them more user-friendly, leverage technology to offer anytime banking access, build transparency about their policies, and empower customers with the power of choice.
In this blog, we will discuss the building blocks of happy customers in the banking sector.
Customer Democracy™:
Of the Customer, By the Customer, For the Customer
Creating a customer-centric culture enables financial institutions to understand customers’ preferences, access a 360-degree customer view, and manage their lifecycle. When a bank prioritizes a customer-centric approach, the overall CX is going to be great, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. Moreover, they have better recommendation and retention rates, a stronger ROI, and more up-sell and cross-sell opportunities.
What does the customer expect from their respective banks?
Customers want banks and financial institutions to deliver connected experiences across channels and reward them for their loyalty. Here are a few key expectations that the average consumer has from their financial service provider:
- High-quality customer service
- Easy access to digital platforms
- Personalized interactions
- Real-time assistance
- Data security & privacy
Enhanced & unified CX
Delivering a great customer experience is the key to unlocking customer loyalty for financial service providers. Providing the same level of service and experience across channels, whether it’s in the branch, on the phone, or online, can help build brand affinity. A unified CX approach enables banks to have a better understanding of their customer’s preferences and improve operational efficiency. By collecting and analyzing data across multiple channels, banks can get insights into consumers’ buying behavior and anticipate their requirements. When customers are satisfied with their financial service providers, they are more likely to stay loyal and recommend them to others.
Omnichannel engagement
With the advent of multiple digital platforms, customers have more options than ever to interact and engage with banks, making banking more convenient and accessible. Customers can choose the channel that works best for them and switch between channels seamlessly, and they can expect the same level of service.
Leveraging omnichannel engagement enables banks to manage interactions and get better insights into customer behavior and preferences. By tracking customer interactions, banks can have a clear understanding of what customers want, allowing them to provide more personalized services. By providing a connected CX, banks can reduce costs, increase efficiency, assist customers in real-time, gain better insights, and improve efficiency.
Digitization and Convenience
Digitization has come as a boon for customers as it has provided them with the convenience of anytime banking to manage their finances more efficiently while also seeking real-time assistance. Modern banking customers do not want to spend their hours standing in the queue at their bank branches and prefer to conduct their banking services from the palm of their hands. They can now transfer money, check balances, pay utility bills, download statements, invest in stocks or bonds, etc within a few clicks on their smartphone.
With improved accessibility, banks can provide better customer service, deliver seamless interactions and quick responses, boost effectiveness, and reduce operational costs across multiple channels. As digital technologies continue to evolve, the banking sector will need to meet the changing expectations of its customers.
Creating a customer-centric culture enables financial institutions to understand customers’ preferences, access a 360-degree customer view, and manage their lifecycle. When a bank prioritizes a customer-centric approach, the overall CX is going to be great, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. Moreover, they have better recommendation and retention rates, a stronger ROI, and more up-sell and cross-sell opportunities.
What does the customer expect from their respective banks?
Customers want banks and financial institutions to deliver connected experiences across channels and reward them for their loyalty. Here are a few key expectations that the average consumer has from their financial service provider:
- High-quality customer service
- Easy access to digital platforms
- Personalized interactions
- Real-time assistance
- Data security & privacy
Enhanced & unified CX
Delivering a great customer experience is the key to unlocking customer loyalty for financial service providers. Providing the same level of service and experience across channels, whether it’s in the branch, on the phone, or online, can help build brand affinity. A unified CX approach enables banks to have a better understanding of their customer’s preferences and improve operational efficiency. By collecting and analyzing data across multiple channels, banks can get insights into consumers’ buying behavior and anticipate their requirements. When customers are satisfied with their financial service providers, they are more likely to stay loyal and recommend them to others.
Omnichannel engagement
With the advent of multiple digital platforms, customers have more options than ever to interact and engage with banks, making banking more convenient and accessible. Customers can choose the channel that works best for them and switch between channels seamlessly, and they can expect the same level of service.
Leveraging omnichannel engagement enables banks to manage interactions and get better insights into customer behavior and preferences. By tracking customer interactions, banks can have a clear understanding of what customers want, allowing them to provide more personalized services. By providing a connected CX, banks can reduce costs, increase efficiency, assist customers in real-time, gain better insights, and improve efficiency.
Digitization and Convenience
Digitization has come as a boon for customers as it has provided them with the convenience of anytime banking to manage their finances more efficiently while also seeking real-time assistance. Modern banking customers do not want to spend their hours standing in the queue at their bank branches and prefer to conduct their banking services from the palm of their hands. They can now transfer money, check balances, pay utility bills, download statements, invest in stocks or bonds, etc within a few clicks on their smartphone.
With improved accessibility, banks can provide better customer service, deliver seamless interactions and quick responses, boost effectiveness, and reduce operational costs across multiple channels. As digital technologies continue to evolve, the banking sector will need to meet the changing expectations of its customers.
Well-designed UI
The user interface of banking apps and websites has a major impact on customers. A user-friendly UI can help even non-tech savvy users adopt digital, thus making banking more accessible, convenient, and efficient. Customers are more likely to be satisfied and have a positive brand image when they can easily find the required information or make transactions quickly.
A well-designed UI also enables banks to empower users by enabling them to perform most of their banking tasks without much assistance. This allows them more time to focus on other important tasks. This way banks and financial institutions can build a positive brand image, stand out in a competitive marketplace, and attract new customers. Banks must analyze customer feedback to make improvements and ensure that the UI is relevant.
Personalization
Crafting real-time personalized experiences is one of the major constant trends in the banking sector. By personalizing products and services, banks can create a more engaging and satisfying experience for customers, leading to greater loyalty.
By analyzing customer data and behavior, banks can offer personalized offers that are more likely to resonate with their customers. This allows for building stronger relationships, promoting personalized engagements, creating more effective cross-selling or up-selling opportunities, and driving profitable actions.
“Over 72% of customers consider personalization highly important in the banking sector.” – Capco Study
With personalized offerings, financial institutions can make their customers feel valued and can thus expect loyalty in return.
Rewards Management
“66% of customers say that earning rewards actually changes their buying behavior.” – Shopify
A 360-degree rewards program has a significant influence on customers’ buying behavior. It enables customers to earn real-time rewards through points, vouchers, or cashback on transactions with a financial service provider. After they have earned enough points, they can manage, track, and exchange their accumulated points on a rewards catalogue featuring hotels, flights, holidays, merchandise, and more.
Reward programs impact customers positively by encouraging repeat behavior with incentives. If a customer knows they can earn rewards on engagement, transactions, or referrals, they are more likely to continue using these services frequently. It’s a way for financial institutions to drive profitable customer action, increase ROI, and create upselling and cross-selling opportunities across the customer journey.
Collect feedback & act on it
Customer feedback is one of the main ingredients for improving customer satisfaction and enhancing overall CX. Financial service providers that prioritize feedback and act on it to improve the quality of service are likely to better understand customers’ preferences and build strategies around them. However, a lot of financial institutions still lack the technology to capture the Voice of the Customer, thus staying deprived of hearing the true user sentiments. This results in unhappy customers, who will start looking for alternate banks or financial service providers who make them feel heard and valued. Through feedback, banks can also gain insights into specific areas for improvement and give proactive customer support, leading to a great experience.
