Digital Transformation Insights

5 min read

Why Digitization is Essential for Customer Experience Management at Financial Institutions

Nov 21, 2024 12:00:00 PM

Time is one of our most precious resources as humans. It’s so valuable, in fact, that time wasted often translates to far more than lost revenue – it can also lead to a loss of people, trust, and credibility. For banks and financial institutions, there’s no better way to demonstrate that you know and understand your customers than by respecting their valuable time. That’s why digitization is a crucial part of customer experience management: it streamlines operations so that customers get the services they need faster. 

What is Customer Experience Management?

Each time a member sees or interacts with your organization, it affects their perception of it (and your brand). Customer experience (CX) management, then, is all about improving that perception. 

Broadly speaking, customer experience management, also known simply as CXM, involves strategically optimizing the experience customers have throughout their entire journey with your brand. 

Some examples of activities involved in managing the customer experience include:

  • Identifying and solving problems customers commonly face during their journey
  • Increasing your digital and web presence to better serve customer needs
  • Streamlining digital interactions with customers to proactively answer questions and address concerns
  • Finding new services that you can provide to customers to simplify their journeys

So, why focus on customer or client experience management? While it may require some investment, it’s well worth the effort. Improving your CX not only ensures you understand customer needs but also gives you the opportunity to align each aspect of the customer experience with your organization and operations. 

In doing so, you can optimize experiences for staff and customers alike. Plus, you’ll create more loyal and happier customers who are likely to stick with your organization for years to come. 

Customer Experience Management in Financial Institutions

No industry is immune to the need for a robust customer experience management strategy. However, in the world of finance and banking, customer experience management is becoming more important than ever.

Today’s banking customers have rapidly changing needs. They expect frictionless, fast, and personalized journeys with service providers. At the same time, customers have also changed their banking habits, with many now using and expecting digital functionality from their financial institutions. 

A positive CX has become a strategic differentiator for financial institutions. In other words, banks that invest in CX management outperform those that don’t. So, what does customer experience management in banking look like?

Experts agree that there are two main goals that banks must pursue as part of their customer experience management strategies:

  1. Personalization. This is all about understanding customers’ financial needs and ensuring they’re met.
  2. Omnichannel Banking. A “not-one-size” digital approach that blends multiple touchpoints – both digital and in-person – and platforms together allows banking customers to access services in a format of their choosing.

As banks and financial institutions strive to personalize customers’ experiences, they’re also tasked with migrating to digital channels successfully. 

Challenges Impacting the Customer Experience

The path to improving the customer experience may seem clear on paper. However, in reality, there are several obstacles that commonly limit an organization’s ability to influence experiences as much as they’d like to, including:

  • Siloed Data – When data is isolated from systems or areas of an organization (or its members), it’s inaccessible and does little to boost experiences.
  • Legacy Systems – Outdated technology may lack the speed and agility required for services that connect physical and digital touchpoints. They also tend to be unable to process and analyze large amounts of data quickly. 
  • Regulatory Requirements – Compliance and regulatory requirements can naturally slow down the process of fulfilling customer needs, especially when technology is not designed to support them. 

Why Digitization is Key for CXM

For banks and financial institutions, digitization is not optional – it’s critical, at least when it comes to securing a positive customer experience. A recent McKinsey report reveals that while customers who regularly use a bank’s digital tools – like an app or website – are more satisfied than customers who don’t, most banks inconsistently adopt digital solutions. 

That means that simply implementing effective digital customer experience management solutions across your organization can give you a leg up over the competition. 

Digitization – or a digital transformation – is worth it for more reasons than standing out from the crowd, though. It also directly addresses many of the challenges that banks face regarding CXM.

For one thing, embarking on a modern digital transformation allows you to break down data silos and facilitate seamless, real-time interactions across different channels. Likewise, digitization increases operational efficiency for your staff, allowing them to get more tasks done faster and with fewer errors or hurdles to vault. 

And, perhaps most importantly, digitization ensures your institution can meet customer expectations for a mobile-first and always-on banking experience. 

But you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make digitization a reality. Even if you already have legacy tech, you can take pieces of what works and turn them into a modern, updated experience with the help of a provider like CDP. 

How CDP’s Tools Support Improved CXM in Financial Institutions

CDP offers custom-built tech solutions that enable you to improve customer experiences while also making life easier for your employees. Here’s a preview of how some of our tools can support your customer experience management strategy. 

Document Management (Laserfiche)

CDP leverages Laserfiche, a leading document management and filing platform, to help you centralize all of your documents and operations on a single platform. Say goodbye to tedious, clunky processes and siloed operations! With Laserfiche, you can go paperless while also automating and simplifying organization, archiving, and more. 

eSign

Bring your customer experience into the present with eSign, which allows you to give customers the flexibility to sign documents from anywhere, anytime. eSign allows customers to securely sign documents electronically to cut back on the need for in-person interactions and reduce the time it takes to access services.

Webforms

Engage members with secure digital forms and applications while saving valuable time for your staff. Webforms allows members to submit documents remotely so that your teams can expedite the application process and simplify how you deliver online banking services.

eTeller

Offer faster, personalized transactions with eTeller, an electronic transaction management tool that helps you connect in-person customer journeys with digital experiences. Decrease wait times, manual errors, and compliance concerns with a self-serve teller solution. 

Improve Customer & Employee Experiences with the Right Tech

It’s clear that technology plays a vital role in modernizing the customer experience in baking. Investing in a customer experience management software or tool is one of the best ways to ensure your organization can get ahead and stay there. 

Whether you’re updating legacy platforms to meet the demands of modern customers or starting from ground zero, the team here at CDP is here to help. 

Reach out to us today to book a personalized demo of our products and see how we can help you reimagine the journey your customers embark on each time they use your services.

Nirav Doshi
Written by Nirav Doshi

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