Handling rising consumer expectations amidst a digital transformation is the new norm for the banking industry. Online and mobile banking have become routine for most consumers, making digital customer service a top priority for most financial institutions. In fact, according to an FIS Consumer Banking Report, 72% of all bank interactions are now digital. With this rising consumer demand for information at the touch of a button, financial brands will be challenged to provide a seamless customer experience while fostering the personal connection that remains vital to the industry. As we enter 2022, a robust digital customer service strategy can help financial institutions deal with staff shortages and keep up with the evolving digital landscape of banking.
Win new customers in 2022 with industry-leading digital customer service strategies
Financial institutions are known for providing personalized, interactive customer experiences that foster long-term brand loyalty; this is part of what contributes to this industry’s incredible low churn. However, in-person interactions no longer drive this brand loyalty. Today, 71% of consumers regularly bank online, with 43% banking via their mobile devices. As digital banking continues to rise in popularity, customer service expectations are also soaring. According to a recent survey, 83% of customers cited good customer service as their most important criterion when purchasing a product or service. In the new year, brands can win favor, create customers for life, and save money by delivering premium digital customer service.
Check out the following digital customer service tips that can secure long-term relationships and high satisfaction rates in 2022:
1) Simplify agent workflows and facilitate easy channel switching
As consumers increasingly rely on digital channels to resolve their questions, financial institutions are bound to face a flood of incoming questions in 2022. And with omnichannel communication remaining a top priority for most brands, there are now endless platforms where consumers can engage with their bank. In fact, research suggests that most consumers prefer multiple options; 62% want to engage with brands across multiple digital channels, including SMS messaging, social media, online chat, and more.
This can create a headache for customer care and CX teams. Not only do they have to offer the option to switch channels seamlessly; they also have to bolster cross-team collaboration to understand all aspects of each customer’s journey. But digital-first customer engagement solutions can make this easy. And by enabling seamless channel switching between all digital mediums, brands can provide a cohesive customer experience while saving their care agents time. For instance, a banking customer might reach out about a fraudulent charge via email, but should be able to follow up on phone, SMS messaging, or social media without needing to repeat the issue.
Facilitating channel switching also means prioritizing swift agent response times, a factor that is increasingly crucial for customers across all industries. 79% of consumers want to receive a fast response, and on social media more than one-third of customers expect a response within 30 minutes. Rather than make agents go back and forth between multiple channels to play catch up before addressing an inquiry, offer an omnichannel platform to provide a single view of all previous interactions, making agents’ lives easier and cutting down on response times.
2) Implement digital self-service tools to mitigate high call volume
Post-2020, the majority of digital call centers are dealing with lean teams and high call volumes, making it difficult to maintain SLAs. Many brands are turning for help to call deflection, and the best way to deflect calls is to offer self-service options. This is key for the banking industry to tackle repetitive customer queries and in turn, reduce agent attrition. Self-service allows for customers to answer their questions independently — an option they often prefer, given that 81% already attempt to resolve an inquiry on their own before interacting with an agent. Not to mention, these tools are integral to escalating high-priority cases that require a live agent.
Banking brands can also take their digital customer service to the next level by investing in AI-powered messaging and online brand communities. Advances in AI have played a major role in allowing chatbots to tackle everyday requests like activating a new card or signing up to receive billing notifications. Chatbots also allow your business to provide around-the-clock customer support, even outside of banking business hours. A robust digital self-service strategy should also feature an online brand community, which allows banking customers to answer each other’s questions and share up-to-date information about your brand experience. Not only does this take the burden off of your agents, but allows for peer-to-peer engagement and knowledge building, providing an amplified user experience for your customers.
3) Use customer experience insights to understand consumer behavior across digital channels
With digital customer service in high demand for the banking industry, it’s crucial to utilize a customer experience (CX) insights tool to track customer questions, feedback and overall sentiment about your brand. These tools can be especially helpful to identify your customer’s financial aspirations such as buying a house or planning for retirement, or common questions about certain bank accounts or services. Likewise, CX insights software is vital for industries like banking that rely on high-security software to keep customer information safe.
Analyzing customers’ most common questions can help brands adjust their digital customer service strategy to tackle these simple inquiries before they come up. In particular, a CX insights tool can pull all digital customer service interactions into a single dashboard, making it easy to analyze customer communications across multiple platforms, and identify the challenges that customers face.
Deliver world-class customer service with a digital approach
As we enter 2022, providing a top-notch customer experience for banking consumers will be integral to your brand’s success. As online banking continues to soar, delivering personalized service without sacrificing efficiency will determine existing customer loyalty and new business. Consumer banking isn’t going anywhere, but keeping up with the ever-changing landscape of the industry will put your brand at the forefront of innovation. By investing in a CX insights platform, banking brands can reduce the volume of inquiries from the start and kickoff 2022 with a bang.
