Progress Revolution Session Sneak Peek: Transforming Your Bank to Become Operationally Responsive

Within the banking industry today, we’re observing a significant expansion of choices available to customers, and subsequently loyalty to the primary bank is eroding. What specifically is driving attrition?

Results from a 2011 customer survey conducted by Capgemini show that “quality of service” and “ease of doing business” are the factors that most strongly influence a customer to both initially select AND leave a bank.

What does this mean for a bank conducting business in the current competitive landscape? It means that connecting with your customer at the right time and right place is critically important. The question that remains is exactly how this seamless connection between the organization and the customer is achieved in the real world.

Immediacy is the critical overlay, and immediacy is achieved through real-time data capture and reporting translated into highly targeted, more relevant offers. Real-time data capture and responsiveness put you in a position to move fluidly with your customer base.  There’s no lag time where a lucrative window of opportunity closes before you have the opportunity to act.

It’s all about connecting with customers on their terms, and this is best achieved through automating the process.  For instance, if you have a customer that has deposited a large check outside the parameters of their typical deposit cycles, you can present an offer for a high yield savings account. This type of offer works well when you connect with your customer immediately because the large deposit is still top of mind, and other choices for investment have likely not yet been identified.

Essentially you’re able to capitalize on your preemptive knowledge that this customer is likely in the market for a savings account product BEFORE the customer is able to research competitive options.

By anticipating your customers’ needs you’re delivering on the most important factor in retention – ease of doing business.

When you have the tools in place to serve up the right offering to the right customer at the right time, everyone wins.  You don’t want your customer to jump ship because they think you don’t have what they need.  And your customer really doesn’t want to spend their valuable time and energy searching for a solution that they could quickly and easily secure from you.

The beauty of Responsive Customer Engagement is that it evolves operational efficiency into operational agility.  It’s not enough to streamline processes and collect data – it’s about how quickly and effectively you can translate data capture and analysis into real-time, relevant communication with your customers. Believe me, if you’re not focused on real-time customer engagement, it’s highly likely that your competitors are.

I hope that you can join me in Boston on September 21^st at Progress Revolution Boston 2011 to discuss how to leverage software solutions to not only improve operational efficiency but also increase customer engagement and loyalty.  I’m going to be covering cross-sell and up-sell marketing, payment management, and customer on-boarding and other timely topics, and look forward to a lively exchange of ideas!