Regardless of its bad press around the world, Uber is often cited, with good reason, for driving a new type of experience and fundamentally changing consumer expectations for a service – by providing a highly personalised, seamless experience based on customer data.
Organisations today need to develop a deeper understanding of people’s needs, and then harness data and technology innovations to create services and customer experiences that will not only fit seamlessly into their daily lives, but amaze, dazzle, delight – and be personal.
Nowhere is this more important that in the world of financial services – a sector that touches the life of every single person.
Putting customers’ needs first
Thinking of the customer first is hard, especially when the majority of organisations exist to make money for shareholders and their employees. Unfortunately this can often mean that organisations make the wrong decisions, which conversely can lead to loss of customers and loss of revenue.
Financial services companies must put the financial interests of their customers above their own objectives to keep and win new customers.
We’ve previously written about how financial services organisations should want customers to lead more financially successful lives and how financial literacy could become a brand differentiator in this regard.
We’ve explored why the financial services industry needs to build customer relationships across the financial generation gap, and posited that it will be the brands that focus on engaging and delighting all generations of customers in the micro-moments where decisions are made, and service delivered, who will win out over the competition.
Delivering new, personalised services and experiences comes down to knowing as much as possible about your customers.
The key to unlocking a better experience is data
As with many organisations today, across all sectors, ensuring you get all your customer data in one place to make informed data-led decisions is vital.
To profile and segment customers better, to look for behavioural patterns to create new services and improve existing ones, as well as drive better, more personalised, seamless experiences, financial services organisations need to assemble rich pool of data together from multiple sources.
Collecting customer data together from multiple sources and systems is easier said than done – but the rewards can be huge.
Showcasing products that customers with similar needs have bought, providing comparison shopping for financial products for consumers and businesses, or even providing early warnings of potential financial concern for customers, are all things that are achievable and will help deliver a better experience for customers.
But it all starts with data, and having the right technology – something that, as a digital agency, we know quite a bit about.
Having the tools for the job
A survey last year reported that when it comes to their desired customer intelligence solution, brands were looking for technology that could:
- Collect customer data down to the individual level
- Provide real-time insights into customer behaviour and interactions as they happen
- Have automated responses based on customer interactions
- Automatically identify customer segments
The Sitecore Experience Platform can do all of this and to our mind is the answer to all of the problems brands have identified, and with Sitecore xConnect, which enables the Sitecore Experience Platform to connect with, and store data from, just about any third party data system, you could have the most comprehensive view of the customer you’ve probably ever had.
We have over ten years of experience designing and delivering websites and customer experience solutions on Sitecore. We’ve helped numerous brands around the world deliver personalisation at an individual customer level, integrated various systems to allow organisations to have a 360-degree view of customers and their interactions, and helped set them on the path to ongoing marketing automation and optimisation that helps to keep and win new customers.
Want to talk?
With vast experience in the financial services sector, helping to drive differentiated and personalised digital experiences for brands including Seven Investment Management (7IM), M&G Investments, and Nationwide Building Society, everything we do starts with your customers and their needs.
If you’re a financial services brand looking to do something different, gather data together in one place to make informed decisions, and provide a personalised experience for every one of your customers, get in touch.
We’d love to hear from you.
