I recently penned an article highlighting some common Customer Experience (CX) issues. On the heels of highlighting issues related to the Customer Experience, I came across an excellent article from Profit Resources Inc (PRI) titled, “Unlocking Customer Engagement Strategies for Enhanced Experiences.” Clearly, this content dovetailed in the very points I was making in the previous article. There is absolutely no question banks need to transform away from a transaction focus to an engagement focus. Penned by Tom McGill PRI’s Director of Customer Experience, the article highlights six tips to unlock customer engagement: Leverage the data you own to optimize each customer’s experience – Forget big data: you don’t have any! But the data you do have is rich and can be used to greatly expand the customer experience. But many FIs don’t pay attention to poor use of data. For example, are you showing your customers ads for services they already have? Are you making them key in data that should be pre-filled? Are you making them repeat data when moved from one service rep to another (or from one department to another)? These are just a few of the CX “fails” that can be easily remediated if you pay attention to using the data you have on customers and their transaction activity. Embrace digital – Opening an account, signing paperwork, providing KYC documentation all can be done using a mobile device. Using digital devices is exactly how your future customers want to interact with you. Stop fighting the digital advance and make sure you have leading edge online / mobile banking technologies. Don’t forget your people – As you advance your digital competency, your people will then become the differentiator but not in the traditional sense. Knowing that your customers are digitally connected, all of your personal touchpoints, regardless of what that is phone, chat or in–branch, need to be savvy on how your digital platform operates. Their knowledge and assistance in guiding customers through the digital experience or even more importantly, solving vexing problems, will provide superior customer experience. Prioritize security and privacy – The trust our customers have is based on the belief we will be extremely diligent in protecting their data, and further that when they use our services, they can be assured there is sufficient security protecting that activity. Any failure we allow that allows doubt to creep into our ability to ensure security and privacy will significantly damage that trust, translating to a decrease in customer experience. Break down internal barriers – Nothing is more frustrating than been passed from person to person (or department to department) in an effort to land with someone with the necessary expertise to address an issue. Further exacerbating this is the aforementioned need to repeat basic information over and over again. Empower your first points of customer contact to triage the issue and make a definitive determination of who needs to address that issue. If that person is not available, setup an appointment for a future date and time. This will be received more favorably over getting to “someone” who ultimately can’t address the issue. Monitoring industry trends is everyone’s responsibility – So much is happening so fast in financial services that many FIs can feel it is not possible to stay on top of technological developments. But throughout the institution, you can allocate certain topics to individual officers and task them with staying abreast of all advancements on that issue. Then at your quarterly management meeting, each person can give an update of the state of that technology. This allocation of reporting responsibility also works for tracking certain entities, such as key vendors or rules / regulations that are being proposed at the state or federal level. Tom sums up the article with this, “While loyalty, advocacy, and lifetime value are some direct impacts of improved Customer Engagement, other critical elements such as brand reputation, risk management, operational efficiency and long-term FI sustainability are also outcomes. It’s time for all of us to up our games and understand that the stakes are high. Customer Engagement is not a ‘nice-to-have’ for the thriving FI of the future, it will increasingly become table stakes.” So true and well said… Resources https://profitresources.com/unlocking-customer-engagement-strategies-for-enhanced-experiences/?utm_source=PRI+Contacts&utm_campaign=d190586593-December+2023+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65a0c761e5-d190586593-138864137 The views expressed in this blog are for informational purposes. All information shared should be independently evaluated as to its applicability or efficacy. FNBB does not endorse, recommend or promote any specific service or company that may be named or implied in any blog post.