The importance of customer journeys in banking
Customer journeys in banking are a bit like a romance, from the initial meeting when you’re trying to figure out if the bank and its products and channels are right for you, to the building of the relationship where of you learn more about each other, and finally to the engagement and marriage of what will hopefully be a happy, productive and successful long-term relationship.
While they may not have always been on the customer journey bandwagon, changing consumer preferences and competing disruptors have forced banks to pay attention to the journey their customers take as they decide whether to engage - or not - with banks and their products and services.
Olalla: Given the depth of banking choices consumers have today,...knowing the customer’s process from start to finish is hugely important.
“A journey is like a reputation - whether it’s defined or not, there is one,” says BBVA Compass Head of Business Development Pepe Olalla. “Given the depth of banking choices consumers have today, particularly among more commoditized services like checking, savings and even some types of loans, knowing the customer’s process from start to finish is hugely important.”
According to the Customer Journey Mapping Research Report 2018 from MyCustomer and Quadient, the biggest benefit of using customer journey mapping draws back to customer experience, with 71 percent indicating that using it increased customer satisfaction. Customers can choose to conduct their banking across many financial institutions and fintechs, which means having the best and most seamless customer experience in every channel and for every product could be the difference between gaining and losing a customer.
Further, Olalla says, it’s not enough to just map a few different journeys the customer takes with your bank. Instead, banks must identify every journey and seek to improve and maximize them.
“BBVA Compass’ goal is to map customer journeys for every product, channel, combination of channels and for every product through every channel and then constantly improve them,” he said. “This is important because customers might start in digital then move to the branch, then back to digital. Admittedly, it can get overwhelming, but in many cases, you only have one chance to get the customer experience right, so it’s worth it.”
That customers have both digital and traditional options is also one advantage bank’s have over digital only providers, he said.
Ollala: ...we’ve seen the importance of branches when it comes to digital product adoption and, beyond that, we know that consumers aren’t using just one channel...
“The omnichannel experience is one that is hard for a digital only provider to replicate,” he said. “Through some of our own research, we’ve seen the importance of branches when it comes to digital product adoption and, beyond that, we know that consumers aren’t using just one channel. Knowing their journey through each of these channels, and making their experience seamless from channel to channel, can help ensure you retain them.”
Olalla says that, using data and analytics, banks can better serve customers according to their needs, serving up products and services that match how they are using the bank.
“The future of banking is how we use the data to better serve our customers and their needs,” he said. “But before we can do that, we have to make sure their experience with the bank, in every channel, is seamless.”