Contact centres for financial institutions have always been an important touch point for customers to access support. However, their value is now being recognized more than ever. Contact centers are shifting their focus from fitting customers into business processes to reshaping themselves around customers’ needs.
In the past, contact centers were primarily concerned with cutting costs and improving efficiency. Their success was measured by call volumes, queue times, and abandonment rates. Unfortunately, these efficiency metrics did not prioritize the customer experience.
Today, customer experience is of utmost importance. Organizations understand that great customer experiences lead to customer loyalty and new customers. With customers sharing their experiences online, financial institutions can no longer underestimate the importance of their contact centers.
Contact centers are transforming to become customer experience centers. They go beyond providing a service and instead focus on the total customer experience. This presents an opportunity for financial services companies to become fully connected organizations driven by technology. By embracing solutions that unify all channels, from digital to physical to mobile, they can create seamless customer experiences that set them apart from competitors.
To better serve customers, contact centers need to understand their changing needs. Alongside traditional customers, financial institutions are now catering to a new generation of tech-savvy, socially connected customers. These customers have different expectations and prioritize empathy, passion, and personalized connections. Failure to meet these expectations can lead to customers leaving and expressing their frustrations online.
In order to satisfy the diverse needs of customers, organizations must diversify their services. This means investing in omnichannel engagement, which encompasses social media, instant messaging, webchats, and physical customer support. However, many organizations in the financial services industry have been operating in silos. They have invested in technologies to support different customer-facing channels, but the lack of integration prevents them from leveraging customer insights and improving the customer journey.
To succeed in improving the customer journey, organizations must break down these silos and invest in technology that allows them to capture interactions and understand their customers’ context. This will enable them to deliver fast, personalized services that convert prospects into long-lasting advocates.
Automation also plays a crucial role in improving customer service. By using data-based insights and capabilities, organizations can identify simpler customer queries and direct them to self-service options, virtual assistants, and AI-powered services. Conversational virtual assistants can leverage customer data to address queries autonomously. When necessary, customers can transfer to a human agent while retaining all the data collected.
Automated self-service technology is not meant to replace contact centers entirely. There will always be a need for human agents to manage complex tasks and provide personalized advice. However, for simpler tasks, organizations can empower customers to self-service, reducing wait times and improving efficiency.
Data security is a top priority for financial institutions. Many companies are choosing to migrate their contact center operations to the cloud to ensure data safety. By working with trusted cloud providers like Microsoft’s Azure, organizations can benefit from secure cloud solutions that protect against cyber-attacks and fraud. Migrating to the cloud also offers cost efficiency by eliminating the overheads associated with physical servers.
Overall, contact centers for financial institutions are evolving to prioritize customer experience. By embracing technology, breaking down silos, and investing in automation and cloud solutions, organizations can provide seamless, personalized services that meet the diverse needs of their customers.