Why contact centres hold the key to great customer experience in finance

With increased market competition and the rise of challenger banks, traditional financial institutions must differentiate themselves by keeping, or even out-pacing, consumer demand and ever-evolving expectations. Medallia research suggests that convenience, consistency and personalisation are key to sustained customer retention, with companies that focus on customer experience (CX) commanding a higher market share. 

Contact centres are a critical touchpoint for customer service delivery, particularly when it comes to financial decision-making. Industry research reveals that customers significantly prefer human interactions when discussing emotive concerns. The same is true of higher cost transactions - indeed, the more money ‘at risk’, the more likely a client will want to speak to a live agent.

With the right knowledge and ability to act in real-time, contact centres have the power to transform customer experiences, building trust and retention in the long run. 

Leveraging actionable insights 

The contact centre is a mine of precious data, which when captured and channelled in the right places, provides a blueprint for delivering exceptional customer experiences. However, financial customers often have emotionally charged, complex needs, and frustration can quickly escalate if issues aren’t addressed promptly. 

AI based speech and text analytics can help to detect early signs of dissatisfaction, such as repeated calls into the contact centre, long silences, or negative sentiment in voice tone and word choice. In addition, by capturing data from the hub of customer service operations - the contact centre - teams can analyse and predict which issues stem from high customer effort (e.g. repeated verification steps, long hold times, or unclear communication). Pinpointing the key issues and flagging these signals in real time, allows financial institutions to alert cross-functional teams and proactively resolve issues before they lead to churn. 

Savvy financial institutions will also go further - using the insights gathered to address the systemic root cause and ensure that the issue never occurs again. In addition, they will use the information gathered to anticipate customer needs and proactively offer solutions. Take for example a customer who mentions on a call that they are looking to buy a house - speech analytics can detect that ‘need’ and trigger an alert or an automated workflow to ensure that client receives targeted offers around mortgages. 

By consolidating customer, operational and behavioural data, organisations can glean impactful insights that better correlates CX with business outcomes. 

Personalising and connecting the customer journey

Research shows that companies with top CX programmes are twice as likely to prioritise personalisation across channels. Indeed, within the finance sector, personalised advice is crucial. Beyond providing customers with the assurance that their needs are understood, UK financial service providers are also subject to The Consumer Duty, a regulation that sets higher standards around duty of care and requires financial organisations to act to deliver good outcomes for customers. This includes ensuring that communications are clear, personalised where appropriate and that products and services meet customer needs. 

As part of this, aggregating data from past interactions will enable agents to provide tailored recommendations and proactive, personalised support. By integrating unified analytics across all touchpoints, contact centres can draw a holistic picture of the customer’s financial history and past inquiries, providing targeted advice rather than generic responses. These insights can help ensure seamless interactions, directing them to the most efficient resolution path and helping them to feel understood. 

The value of investing in the employee experience

As the human face of a brand, a contact centre agent can be the difference between a detractor and a promoter. Customers seeking support from a financial organisation require calm, knowledgeable, and empathetic agents to assist them. Coaching staff on how to navigate these interactions and provide expert guidance on financial matters is crucial to any CX programme. Whilst poorly trained agents erode trust and increase churn, empowered agents convert critics into advocates.

Yet, while contact centre agents are clearly pivotal to the success of the CX delivered, their annual attrition rate is higher than average and can range anywhere from 26 percent to as high as 85 percent. With studies showing a direct correlation between employee experience (EX) and CX, and engaged employees 87 percent less likely to leave, it’s vital that contact centres invest in their agents. Sustaining employee wellbeing hinges on a combination of adequate training and manual task automation. Introducing AI solutions reduces workload stress and allows employees to focus their training on high-value interactions. Ultimately, streamlining the agent’s role and ability to serve the client will pay dividends in the long-term, boosting agent retention and making it easier to serve client needs.

Unlocking the power of CX within the contact centre

In the financial services industry, ensuring the trust, security, and support of customers is paramount. Through capturing customer insights, connecting the customer journey and personalising offerings,  the contact centre, and its agents, can deliver the stellar customer experience that consumers expect.