According to the Ernst and Young Global Consumer Banking Survey, one-third of banking customers changed their service provider from 2011 to 2012. Because of this, it should go without saying that attention needs to be given to improving the customer experience side of banking. As financial institutions offer common incentives and services, perhaps the best way to turn is on improving the actual customer interaction – an improvement that a cloud contact center unquestionably brings to the table.
In the financial sector, there are many aspects that deal with remote customer interactions, from credit card hotlines to the bank’s standard customer service line. Although these larger conglomerates offer higher convenience and perhaps boast more credibility than their smaller, more local counterparts, these smaller banks have always won out in customer-satisfaction scores. This is because communication and interactions are more personalized and easier when brought on a smaller scale.
Cloud-based services offer the opportunity for larger banks to make their organization feel smaller and more intimate by increasing customer service while still offering the conveniences of a large financial institution.
Cloud contact centers can help “shrink” large financial institutions by providing abilities like smart call routing, proactive outreach and targeted customer interactions. When properly utilizing these services, smart routing can send a customer to a subject matter expert who is best informed of their status and what services they are likely to need help with. This will help decrease call time, which is still the primary form of communication, and get the customer on his or her way. In addition to quickening call times, these services can open up hours of operation and let the customer work around his or her schedule.
By utilizing the unique customer data and metrics that can be acquired with cloud-based software, a bank can also learn how to better anticipate customer needs, which, of course, leads to a more proactive outreach. The institution can use, for example, this to inform customers of changing policies and protocols that apply specifically to them.
Bottom line: Cloud-based contact centers can empower both the bank and the customer, increasing satisfaction and efficiency on both ends of this delicate relationship.
