Connecting Customer Journeys for Financial Services

Plus, 4 steps for using customer journey insights to drive profits.

For financial service customers, getting a mortgage, applying for a loan or signing up for an insurance policy is more than just a matter-of-fact, black and white business decision. Modern consumers have more power than ever before to find the best products and services out there. But when it comes to personal financial decisions, customers are looking for a company they can trust understands their financial situation, needs and goals. For financial service providers, that means that true service differentiation requires a fully integrated approach across the entire customer journey.

In a business meeting, you expect your colleagues to know the data in the report you provided last week, remember the information in the email you sent yesterday and recall the conversation you had over the phone this morning. Your customers expect your brand to have the same understanding of their interactions with your company and demand a personalized experience across their channels of choice. According to a survey of 1,200+ banking customers, conducted by Invoca, 80% say that it had a positive impact on their decision when the representative immediately knew their relationship with the bank and account history when they picked up the phone.¹

Having a holistic view of your customer touchpoints has become a competitive edge for financial service providers and will likely be the norm in the near future, not only regarding customer experiences but also for a company’s bottom line. For every $1 invested in the customer experience, US companies already gain a $3 return on investment.² However, 44% of customers indicate that they rarely or never visit a physical bank or financial institution, and 43% prefer phone calls to get answers to their questions.³ You therefore have to effectively engage them online, and continue that same positive experience when they call call your contact center.

4 steps for using customer journey insights to drive profits - The Bottom Line:

• Audit your customer data and identify your key customer personas, touchpoints, obstacles, experiences and goals to create a customer journey map.

• Break down the data silos between communication channels through collaborative technologies like CRM platforms, contact center solutions and strong analytics to automate the inbound and outbound collection of customer data.

• Collect the data and connect the dots to provide a consistent experience across channels: email, sms, chat, phone, social and in-person.

• Empower your agents with the information they need, right at their fingertips, before they even pick up the phone.

We at Five9 are partners to our customers and strive to help you understand and optimize your customer journey. Give us a call today to speak to an expert: 1-800-553-8159

¹. Invoca, “State of the Consumer Banking Experience.” Invoca, 2016, p.11

². Vanson Bourne, “Customer Experience and Your Bottom Line.” Avande and Sitecore, 2016, p.3

³. Five9, “What do Financial Service Customers Want from a Contact Center?” Five9, 2017, p.6