Using AI and Chatbots To Transform CX In Financial Services
A huge 94% of financial services professionals see CX as a key differentiator in their crowded and competitive market. However, only 30% see it as a business challenge that is prioritised by the board. Clearly there is a disconnect between recognising the importance of CX and actually implementing business changes.
This represents a big risk during a time of considerable competitive market change given the pace at which customer loyalties can change. The good news is that 2019 appears to be the year that the industry is finally giving CX the attention it deserves. Many companies have recognised the threats of digital disruption from start-ups like Monzo and Atom, along with external companies branching out into financial services.
McKinsey state, “Of the 50 largest global banks, three out of four now pledge themselves to some form of customer-experience transformation.”
Technology Is The Key Differentiator
When it comes to transforming your customer experience, technology and culture should be at the heart of your focus. Your organisation needs to have a customer first culture that has buy in from the top level and is integrated in every department. In terms of technology, particular focus should be given to automation, personalisation and analytics.
Automation is essential for financial services companies looking to reduce costs and improve business intelligence. However, you need to remember any customer facing automation still needs to be treated as part of the customer journey and it is important to keep this an engaging experience.
The Impact of AI on CX
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a key element in disrupting the traditional ways of doing business and interacting with customers. AI can be used in a number of different areas to streamline processes or operational decisions, allowing companies to focus more time to enhance client services.
Chatbots For Communication
AI can also be used for customer facing interactions. Research conducted by Credence Research suggests that chatbots have the potential to leapfrog mobile apps to become a major medium for digital communication. The chatbot market has seen huge developments such as natural language processing, integration with enterprise systems and sentiment analysis. While we may be a long way from fully automated financial advisers, there are practical uses for chatbots that the industry can be using right now.
Chatbot For Feedback
Customer feedback is a vital part of the customer experience and essential for companies to measure and improve customer experience. Chatbot led conversations can capture important metrics whilst also delving deeper into an experience to identify any pain points and areas of improvement.
Using real time artificial intelligence, a chatbot can understand the topic a respondent is talking about and the sentiment they are expressing. This allows the conversation to flow more naturally with the bot able to ask relevant follow up questions, offer reactions and even probe into common topics the customer has not mentioned.
The Power Of Analytics
Not enough financial services organisations are engaging directly with their customers or using data analytics to turn customer data into actionable market intelligence. Collecting feedback through more engaging, conversational methods ensures you collect a combination of qualitative and quantitative data.
However, rather than creating more data for you to analyse, you can use text analytics reporting to automatically pick out common trends and identify the areas that need improving. You can then monitor the sentiment being expressed around this area over time, alongside your overall satisfaction.
Financial Services CX Challenges
Each industry has its own set of customer experience challenges with the financial services industry in particular feeling the impact of today’s experience economy. The growth of mobile devices and constant connectivity means that the customer holds all the cards and earning their loyalty is the key to success.
Changing Demographics
One of the key challenges is capturing the attention of millennials. According to Rohit Keserwani from StraitsBridge Advisors “The mother of all challenges is to gain the millennial generations attention and engagement.”
A recent Gartner report highlighted that the changing demographics of banking consumers are a major concern to financial services’ CEOs. Younger consumers view the value of banks differently from previous generations and are much more inclined to embrace innovative banking services.
Technology allows you to engage with your audience through channels they are more comfortable with an offer a level of personalisation that is vital to the overall experience.
Dealing With Complaints
Dealing with unhappy customers can often be an issue in an industry that is trying to balance following the law and customer satisfaction and reviews. Getting any of these areas wrong can impact your future business so it is important to give your customers a way to raise these concerns and deal with them in a way that meets the requirements of the customers and the law.
Summary
Technology is clearly a key element when it comes to transforming your customer experience. It is important to choose the right technology though that matches your customer strategy. Technology such as chatbots and AI have to be used to improve experiences and not just to reduce costs or save time.
At Wizu we understand the importance of customer engagement and that is why all of our tools are built with your customers in mind. Create engaging conversations across a number of use cases that will help you get to know your customers better, generate more actionable insight and increase customer loyalty.
