In 2019, Salesforce embarked on a study to examine consumer expectations, automation, and AI to determine the focus for the next decades in the financial industry. In the words of Rohit Mahna, SVP and General Manager of Financial Services at Salesforce shared in the executive summary of this research endeavor, “2020 had a different plan for all of us… in the face of a new reality, we regrouped with financial services leaders and launched a second survey to investigate how the world is changing – and what it means for the industry.”
Nearly 2,800 financial services leaders across the globe were surveyed to reveal that successful FIs:
1. support individual client journeys,
2. create efficiencies through automation, and
3. create new value streams.
These strategies were successful during the pandemic, and are continuing to excel as the health and economic status is stabilizing. One of the repercussions of the COVID-19 world-wide health event is that it forced many FIs to convert all in-person interactions to online almost immediately. In many ways, this was a long-overdue investment in digital services that provided customers online access to their finances which had become a necessity seemingly overnight.
However, the analysis shows that the rush to digital resulted in a decline in the customer experience.
Craig Capp, VP Enterprise Sales at Nymbus recently articulated this in a post: “While it’s important to move fast and pivot when unexpected issues arise, like a pandemic…It’s crucial we aren’t doing so at the expense of the customer experience.”
Now is the perfect time to reassess your FI’s digital banking and community technologies to ensure that they are creating personalized interaction with relevant offers and communications that enhances trust and encourages long-term engagement.
In a recent Bank Business News article, DeepTarget President Jill Homan shares the benefits of client-centered AI to banks and credit unions, “This once esoteric technology is delivering real results, enhancing the ability to respond to members in real-time, speeding customer service, and opening avenues to marketing in a respectful, personalized manner. Fintech companies have made the technology affordable for credit unions and community banks and have greatly simplified and shortened the implementation requirements. AI is no longer the exclusive domain of the megabanks- a breakthrough that should benefit consumers, small business and community institutions alike.”
In this ‘best-of-both worlds’ scenario, community banks and credit unions can compete toe-to-toe with large industry players as technology allows online and digital services without sacrificing any of the warmth and personalization that meets customer expectations. Two statistics from the Salesforce report will inspire growth-oriented FIs to invest in technologies that automate services while enhancing relevance:
· 68% of customers say the pandemic raised their standards of expectations for companies’ digital abilities.
· 40% of customers state they would switch banks for amore personalized experience that works.
In a post-pandemic world that resulted in rising customer expectations amongst constantly evolving technologies, many bank and credit union executives believe delivering consistent messages across channels to their customers and members is unachievable.
However, a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) can effortlessly grow deposits, increase loans, gain customer loyalty, and boost revenue at scale. Explore the powerful automation and AI-based technology that can meet these growth needs - now smarter and easier than ever before at www.DeepTarget.com.
