But now, what customers look for in a bank and how they interact with their money is changing. Customers now bank more digitally and want convenient technology-driven solutions. According to Beth Johnson, CXO of Citizens Bank, delivering a strong banking experience is now about tapping into customer needs holistically by leveraging technology, data and in-person interactions.
The goal of modern financial institutions is to drive change while still keeping the customer front and center.
Johnson says the pandemic accelerated the digital path Citizens was already well on by three to five years. Banking was already evolving, but customer preferences have changed drastically over the last 18 months. Understanding those changes and adapting the experience strategy is crucial to banks’ success, especially in these three areas:
Going forward, banks won’t compete on products because products are too easy to copy. Instead, they will compete on their ability to tap into the rational and emotional sides of money to deliver innovative and convenient solutions to customers.
Banks must stay on top of changing customer preferences to deliver strong experiences in the ways that matter most.
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Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future. For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Join the waitlist now for the new Customer Experience Community here.
When it comes to marketing, word of mouth is considered the Holy Grail. There’s nothing better for companies than customers sharing experiences and talking with family and friends.
And that often comes from customer experience efforts, not traditional marketing campaigns. Dan Gingiss, author of The Experience Maker and Winning at Social Customer Care, says that CX and marketing are coming closer and closer. In many ways, CX is one of the most powerful tools for marketing. A great customer experience strategy is the best way to get people talking about a brand.
The key is to create remarkable experiences that customers want to share. Gingiss calls it the WISER method: Witty, immersive, shareable, extraordinary, responsive.
Great experiences don’t have to use all of the WISER elements, but the letters build on each other so that the best experiences use all of them. Including more elements of the WISER framework creates a stronger connection with customers that they will remember and want to share.
The first element of the WISER method is what all remarkable experiences have in common--they are witty. Gingiss clarifies that being witty doesn’t mean being hysterical, but rather being clever and creative. Customers will never share or talk about an experience they think is boring.
Being witty and creating remarkable experiences requires creativity. These days, everything is a potential experience--from a product’s packaging and online presence to its physical display in a store. Something as simple as a witty catchphrase on a package creates a memorable experience that customers want to talk about and share.
With so many competing voices, customers are most likely to trust people they know. Brands that can create memorable experiences and get customers talking and sharing build unique connections that can transform into loyal customers and growth opportunities.
To create remarkable experiences, think WISER and look for ways to turn everything into an experience.
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Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future. For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Join the waitlist now for the new Customer Experience Community here.
It’s been a long 18 months of pandemic life, and customers are feeling the stress and fatigue of constant uncertainty and chaos. They are yearning for a break and a chance to feel calm and normal.
But when they try to escape with a night out or a trip, they’re met with disappointing service.
Companies have to stop using COVID as an excuse for bad service. That’s especially true in industries like hospitality, air travel and restaurants. Yes, there are issues with staffing and turnover, but brands need to figure it out so they can deliver a strong experience.
Customers are tired and burnt out after 18 months of pandemic living. They are hungry to do things they haven’t done in more than a year, and experience matters now more than ever.
This is an incredible opportunity for brands to show up for their customers and provide an extra level of ease and personalization. But instead, too many companies let their service slip with COVID and haven’t made any effort to pivot and improve.
We’ve gotten lost during COVID—both as individuals and as brands. But now is the time to rediscover ourselves and create a sense of purpose. When brands are confident and have a strong culture, they hold themselves to a higher level and rise to the occasion. When everyone else is tired and only doing the bare minimum, it’s the people and brands who believe in themselves and their purpose that run the extra mile for the customers who are counting on them.
Brands that rise to the occasion now to meet their customers where they are and surpass their expectations will be remembered after the pandemic is over. They are the brands that will have loyal customers and an abundance of goodwill.
Now is the time to show up for your customers like never before. Put yourself in their shoes to imagine what it would look like to create an amazing experience in our uncertain world. It could be anything from shorter wait times to increased personalized or an easier return policy. And then go one step further to put those plans into action.
The world is busy and uncertain, but customers are depending on you. Now is the time to rise to the occasion and show up for them like never before.
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Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future. For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Join the waitlist now for the new Customer Experience Community here.
If you ask customers if they want to talk to a bot, most people would likely say no. For years, bots have gotten a bad rap for their nonsensical answers and inability to understand.
But if you ask customers if they want to get correct answers quickly, they would likely all say yes. Modern bots are one of the best and most scalable ways to offer faster, correct service. According to Ben Rigby, VP, Global Head of Product & Engineering, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Talkdesk, it’s all about reframing how customers think of bots and how companies use them in the contact center.
The key to a successful machine learning system in a contact center is adaptability. Rigby says most machine learning projects fail because companies can’t figure out how to retrain their bots to match their customers’ current needs. A bot created before COVID wouldn’t know how to answer questions about things like social distancing, safety measures or mask requirements, but those are crucial answers customers need during a pandemic.
Most companies turn to data scientists to retrain their bots, but Rigby says the best people to update the systems are the call center agents. Agents are familiar with what customers are asking and know how to tailor their answers to meet customers’ needs. They can take that experience and apply it to a bot to make sure the system has the most current and correct information. Rigby says putting contact center agents in the middle of machine learning is the best way to improve and continually update the system. After all, retraining a bot is a lot like talking to customers, something that contact center agents do every day.
Machine learning in the contact center isn’t one and done. It’s a continuous process that involves launching, observing, retraining, observing, retraining—indefinitely. Companies need to plan for the fact that the world is continually changing and their machine learning system and strategy also require regular updates.
Modern bots and machine learning systems are scalable, cost-effective and a great way to deliver a fast and accurate customer experience. The key to success is planning for updates and retraining and ensuring the right people complete the task.
*This episode is powered by Talkdesk. Talkdesk's mission is to help organizations around the world build brand love and loyalty by delivering exceptional customer experiences. But how ? Talkdesk is a cloud contact center solution for the customer-obsessed. With enterprise-class performance and consumer simplicity, Talkdesk CX Cloud empowers you to adapt your contact center to the evolving needs of your customers and teams. The results? Increased productivity, higher customer satisfaction, more cost savings, and great customer experience. If you'd like to know more, visit talkdesk.com.
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Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling book The Customer Of The Future. For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here. Join the waitlist now for the new Customer Experience Community here.