What is Customer Engagement Management? Retail Banks Need It Now!
The survival of every bank in the US will ultimately depend on how well they engage with customers at every point of interaction, especially through digital channels. Consumers and businesses alike are rapidly evolving their expectations of financial institutions as they become increasingly more comfortable with all forms of social media, the convenience of the digital marketplace, the speed and accuracy with which information is exchanged and alternative forms of financial transactions. Therefore, banks must improve the ways in which they engage customers to meet their needs while retaining the security, breadth of service and stability that separates them from the growing threat of non-bank competitors. Consumer engagement technologies play a critical role for financial institutions in meeting customer needs and expectations.
What is Customer Engagement Management?
First, let’s define Customer Engagement Management (CEM). It is managing the messaging, methodologies and processes around direct customer interactions with the bank. The interactions can be personal interactions with a bank employee in person, over the phone or over live video. Or, the interactions can be electronic (self-serve), through a mobile phone, PC, text, ATM or voice response system. CEM is engaging with the customers.
CEM technology makes engaging with customers easier, more relevant and measurable. It allows bankers to meet the unique needs of each individual customer by guiding conversations that lead to a perfect match of customer needs and preferences with the bank’s set of products and services.
CEM is not CRM
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems allow users to manage and track information about customers but does not guide the actual interaction or uncover the needs of the customer. Banks can realize the full potential of a CRM investment by feeding the recommendations and results from every interaction with CEM technology into the CRM system so that the follow-up contact for future sales and marketing efforts are exactly directed at the customer’s needs. Also, supplying information about a customer to CEM to inform interactions with existing customers can provide a more personalized experience and streamline conversations. Further, the information captured during each interaction can update the data about a customer currently available in the bank’s systems.
CEM is not PFM
Personal Financial Management (PFM) systems are designed to help banking customers understand finance, budgeting and planning for the future. PFM systems have some similarity to CEM systems in that questions are asked of the customer to help configure a personal financial plan, however, these systems are designed to be standalone planners, not interactive or real time guides.
Ignite is a CEM Technology Service
Ignite has a well-defined, quantifiable value proposition. CRM and PFM do not. The results of interactions with customers interacting with a CEM system like Ignite is that the customer’s financial needs are discovered and met real time. By perfectly matching customer needs to bank products and services, customers increase the number of products used on average from 1.3 to 3.3 for retail and 1.8 to 3.8 for small business. And, by better meeting customer needs, customers are much more pleased with their interaction with the bank resulting in measured increases in customer satisfaction scores by up to 38%.
