Customer Service Excellence in Financial Services: Three Trends Driving Innovation

Consumers these days live through mobile technology.

In our third Podcast, redk Project Lead George Cox and CRM/CX Strategist and CMO Hideki Hashimura addressed the state of digital transformation in financial services. Both traditional and digital banks operate in the same dynamic, competitive markets, in what has often been regarded as quite a traditional sector. 

 Now, however, to gain competitive advantage in a challenging marketplace, banks and financial service providers must offer an extraordinary customer experience to win and retain customers. Often, this means leveraging innovative new digital tools to improve efficiency without losing the human touch. 

Whether we’re shopping for food, cars or banking services, we expect a seamless digital experience as well as ooVIne-on-one personal attention. This is even more relevant in a landscape where the COVID-19 pandemic forced almost all companies to get up to speed with the tech revolution. 

 For George and Hideki, three trends in particular stand out in a world where most organisations have had to adopt a digital-first model. 

 Improving operational efficiency 

Operational efficiency, according to Hideki, is now the main driver pushing innovation forward. At redk we’re always looking to identify areas to improve efficiency in the financial industry, and According to George Cox, success in this area is all about “providing the correct data at the correct time.” 

 “It’s all about providing the correct data at the correct time.” – George Cox 

 In financial services in particular, customers would often be passed from department to department in search of solutions, while the data associated with them and their issue often was not passed on with them. Seamless and integrated systems like Zendesk allow the integration of information, with an interactive interface facilitating a single agent’s ownership of data.  

 Customers report higher satisfaction and engagement, and agents do not have to repeatedly search for the same information. Automation is improving first-time, first-touch resolution and helping customers solve more of their simple issues themselves.  

 Furthermore, Far from being the futuristic solution of science fiction, AI and Machine Learning are active and commonplace in solutions like Zendesk, particularly in customer self-service and the identification of trends to provide products or services related to customer needs 

 From cash to apps 

No matter where they are, customers expect digital transactions these days. Digital transactions are faster, cheaper and more convenient than their traditional cash-based counterparts.  

 In recent years, especially after the pandemic, the growth we have seen in the volume of digital payment options is extraordinary. Think Apple Pay, Google Pay, and the rise of open banking, in which financial institutions allow third-party developers to build applications around them, for example; adoption is widespread and increasing.  

 In recent years, especially after the pandemic, the growth of digital payment options is extraordinary. 

 Consumers also want to be able to access funds in all currencies, all over the world, with low fees. In order to provide these types of financial services, your organisation needs to ensure that your customers’ data is secure and that your team is ready to attend to problems on the spot. This, agreed George and Hideki, is where technology and outstanding customer service come together. 

 Customer experience making the difference

No matter how advanced your technology is, unless it leads to an improved customer experience, it may not do you any good. An apparently contradictory feature of the digital transformation revolution is the fact that consumers still want to talk to people when they need to. Automation and AI-leveraged self-service is effective and highly desirable but when clients want to speak to a real human, AI can also play a role in making those connections. 

 “Self-service is great, but when clients want to speak to a real human, AI can help make those connections.” 

 Your customer service solution needs to deal with the simple, repetitive issues effectively, but also needs to facilitate human-to-human interaction where necessary. With almost half of UK consumers reporting that they’d likely switch to another brand after just one bad experience, it’s clear just how important it is to build and maintain customer loyalty.  

 With Zendesk, clients are empowered to solve certain problems quickly and entirely on their own. At the same time, this efficiency frees up agents, giving them increased capacity to attend to more complex issues directly. This promotes a culture of proactive problem solving, meaning some customer needs and problems can be addressed before they even arise. 

Take your digital financial services to the next level 

 At redk, we have over 15 years’ experience in innovation and customer service, providing the expertise and digital consulting capabilities to implement the tech that works for your business. Talk to us to learn more about the impact we could have on your organisation.