Customer trust is a major issue for financial services, particularly in the banking industry. So much so, that it is essential for financial services to develop strong relationships with their clients to turn one-time customers into lifetime customers. And it all starts with the customer experience.
If you are delivering an excellent customer experience then your company should reap the rewards, most notably increased customer retention and a boost in customer referrals.
The challenge: proving ROI on your customer experience
With the financial services industry under immense pressure to achieve growth in a volatile and ever-changing market, managing customer experience is key. Today, it’s no longer an option to invest in customer experience, it’s a necessity. In the wake of the rising number of financial scams, which have increased since 2020, customers are more dissenting and sceptical than ever.
If financial services are to regain customer trust, they need to offer excellence with every interaction a customer has with them. Providing this will go a long way to solving challenges in customer acquisition, retention, product development and business growth.
Related content: The common pitfalls of customer experience
Solution: Strategic insights support customer retention
Understanding where your business falls short, knowing what you need to improve, and being able to “save” customers who are about to churn, can have a major impact on your business. This requires one key strategy: listening to your customers.
To assess the current state of your customer experience, you need to talk to those who experience it firsthand. Conducting research, such as a customer satisfaction survey, can generate strategic, actionable insights to help you shape and grow the experience you provide for the better. Moreover, the insights a customer feedback survey produces will help you make solid business decisions that are backed by hard evidence.
Check out our case study on how Wesfarmers made customer experience work for them.
Linking insights to ROI
Research studies have long documented that retaining customers is far more cost effective that acquiring new ones. A five per cent lift in customer retention can result in a profit increase of between 25 and 95 per cent. Therefore, using customer feedback to identify the painpoints and weaknesses of your customer experience and remedy them should be a key part of your strategy. The monetary return from this investment will come in the form of improved feedback, reduced customer churn, more returning customers, and greater word of mouth and customer advocacy.
Read more: How to deal with unhappy customers – a customer service survival guide
The takeaway? Investing in a customer experience management solution pays for itself when you consider the lifetime value of retained customers, repeat shoppers, and customer advocacy pointing more business your way.
Want to learn more about how to solve your biggest customer experience issues? Check out our free guide below!
