Consider this: Companies lose $62 billion every year due to poor customer service. NewVoiceMedia, the contact center vendor on whose research this figure is based, theorizes that great customer service is the critical differentiator and that investing in personalized and engaging customer experiences will help businesses retain customers and secure new business.
I agree. And so did the thought leaders who spoke at the recent 2017 Digital Marketing for Financial Services Summit. At the conference, speaker after speaker stressed the importance of giving customers exceptional service. Increasingly, major players in the financial services sector are coming to terms with the need to prioritize good customer experience.
Research suggests that people don’t just want great customer service -- they also want to control how they access that service. Over 75% of customers prefer self-service, meaning more and more people want to be able to take care of their businesses by themselves, using digital platforms in the comfort of their homes or offices. At the same time, however, “people like dealing with people when it is complex and emotional,” says Larry Lubin of Bluerush. Nothing is more “complex and emotional” than the management of finances, which is why, when making major financial decisions, people want to work with professionals who can offer advice and recommendations and ensure they don’t make mistakes.
This leaves the financial sector in a quandary: How do they give customers the freedom to do things themselves while at the same time giving them the best experience possible? Lubin’s theory is that “being there” for customers does not necessarily translate into interaction with actual people; rather, by humanizing digital channels, companies can give the customers the perception that they are dealing with people.
This is not as difficult as it sounds. Industry leaders are already exploring ways to humanize customer interaction, and here are some critical steps on how to achieve this.
1. Prioritize Customers' Needs
Listening to what customers want and need from your product is critical to creating a tool that they will feel confident using. This is not the same as starting with existing technology and then working backward; customers’ needs must be foundational.
Rebecca Wooters, head of customer engagement at Citi, emphasized this point, stating that customers must always be first, and everything a company does needs to be centered on them. It doesn’t matter, she said, if you think you have an effective product if the customers don’t agree. You only have a good product if customers have determined that you have a good product and you meet their needs.
2. Understanding Should Lead To Personalization
Elina Vilk, head of marketing at PayPal, raised the concept of sensory gating, whereby customers, who are so inundated with a variety of “noise,” are simply tuning out. The key to "breaking through the gate" is to understand your customers so you can create exactly what they need.
In other words, listening to the customer should never be an end in itself; its purpose is to help companies understand what customers want so they can personalize their products and services for each and every customer. Personalization isn’t just about using a client’s first name; rather, it’s about achieving the kind of understanding that translates into customer trust and confidence in you and your product. Calculators on financial websites are a good example. Rather than being just number crunchers for savings, mortgages or other products, they could help tie complex numbers together in a meaningful way to give customers insight into their own finances. Not only will those kinds of calculators meet a customer’s needs, but they will also communicate to the customer that you understand their situation and you empathize.
3. Know Your Customer
Financial services companies are all familiar with KYC -- know your customer. However, KYC must extend to customer experience and design, as well as regulatory requirements. It needs to shape your ability to offer appropriate and relevant products that make customers feel that you understand their needs. “We as consumers are accustomed to other industries ‘getting it right’ when it comes to knowing who we are, what we like and marketing exactly what we need,” said Anthony Vitalone, head of global digital marketing and strategy at VanEck.
Because customers are accustomed to the excellent UX offered by tech companies, they now expect the same level of experience from their financial service providers. Financial institutions have very little choice but to begin to “get it right” too, Anthony says, so that customers can enjoy the same level of experience they get from other sectors.
4. Keep It Simple And Offer Value
It is important to add value and keep the experience simple. “We will be living in a frictionless world,” says Frank Eliason, partner at Braintrust Partners and former Citi and Comcast executive. He argues that banks are used to making money off of friction, like charging overdraft fees or transfer fees when these are areas that don’t actually cost the bank anything. To stay in the game, the financial industry must recognize that such practices go against customers’ desire for value and simplicity. The success enjoyed by new and innovative models of financial services indicates that things are changing quickly. Consumers want simplicity, and more established companies may end up losing money for charging extra fees as people leave them to do business with companies that eliminate friction, keep things simple and give them additional value.
In the end, humanizing UX comes down to recognizing that you are doing business with individuals. “When it comes to digital strategy,” says Laura Jordan Barger, chief marketing officer at CFSI, “the days of B2B marketing in the traditional sense are gone.” Remembering that there is a consumer at the other end of the device will help the financial industry design products that will meet the needs of the people who will ultimately use them. That is what good customer service is all about.
