RETHINKING THE CLIENT DIGITAL CUSTOMER JOURNEY – THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESS AND FAILURE

RETHINKING THE CLIENT DIGITAL CUSTOMER JOURNEY – THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESS AND FAILURE

2020-04-29

Following on from previous posts, we now look at ways banking and insurance service providers can set themselves up for post pandemic success, the problems you may find in the new digital first world. Also we talk about how you can set yourselves up for a successful launch if you work with the right technology partner.

PROBLEM

The current need for staying at home and closure of all but non-essential services, like food shopping, has resulted in what was a steadily inclining rise in the adoption of Digital Engagement User Experiences to a near-vertical spike. Whatever the outcome of the pandemic crisis, we will all return to a world which will have changed in so many ways from the one we had at the start of 2020.

People of all ages and backgrounds now see digital engagement as a regular part of everyday life, same as watching TV or making a phone call.

The problem many businesses and financial services providers will now encounter is that their customers will benchmark their digital experience with that of technology giants like Netflix, Amazon, Google etc. In the Digital realm, there is reduced brand loyalty of the service is consumable at the right price and without friction.

In Private Banking and Insurance, retaining clients and winning new business still has to be managed even as we all work remotely and in a distributed manner. The value added from the dialogue between the customer and the trusted Advisor or Client Relationship Manager is a critical part of managing investments or financial planning activity. In the new world, face-to-face meetings will be managed via video calls and paperwork in the form of proposals and contracts are now securely shared via electronic documentation. This all needs tracking and to be auditable with as little friction as possible causing dropouts, frustration and lost business.

We face a race to recovery as we emerge into the new world where we will be talking about survival of the fittest, and now is the best time to prepare for success and survival by investing in your Digital services. However, many companies have been valiantly and expensively trying to have amazing Digital Experiences for Years, some succeed and many fail; why is this?

CAUSE

  • IT and business may not be aligned in their ways of working and have different needs pulling in different directions.
  • Digital processes have been built incrementally over many years, with dependencies on underlying legacy technology.
  • There has not been an opportunity to take stock, step back and redesign the journey from the client’s point of view.
  • Dependency on rare and expensive developer resources is a finite non-scalable part of the supply chain and therefore defines the pace of development.
  • Locked into a vendor supplied software platform which does not integrate well with other systems.
  • Managing a mainframe / legacy core system which needs expensive maintenance and soaks up budget that could go into ‘grow the business’ to simply ‘run the business’.

 

In other words, many institutions are running to stand still, while new entrants, not carrying any legacy can invest and take market share by offering the best experiences. However, there is a way to restore equality and leverage your established brand identity as customers and clients look for best in class solutions.

 

ANSWER

1: Breaking the problem into manageable pieces is going to be key:

Looking at the problems and the underlying causes must be a holistic collaboration between business and technical stakeholders. What is the long list of needs and what is essential to prioritize? What are our clients and customers saying to us?

2: Customer Journey Mapping.

  • Customer surveys – closed user groups to talk about the products and experiences they have with you – the customer always knows best!
  • Moving processes and services from the core into the Digital layer, versus a ‘big bang’. We are proposing evolution not revolution, helping to maintain low risk and good governance, feed in learnings and working in an agile manner to make best use of modern DevOps practices.
  • Working in collaborating with a software partner who can assist in re-engineering your processes and offers tools to innovate and compete.

 

3: Exploring new ways of working e.g. low code, cloud based open source architecture.

Taking a small first step, selecting a small project to build confidence with your stakeholders.

4: Finding a trusted technology partner to advise and provide advanced technology to accelerate your successful Digital Transformation and give you a platform for future innovation.

VERMEG has the proven knowhow, experience and technology to assist banks and insurers to deliver a low risk, cost effective, future proof Digital end-to-end journey.

Palmyra by VERMEG is our rapid application development platform, used by institutions of all sizes to reimagine end-to-end processes, design friction free journeys and maintain control and flexibility to take their digital channels forward on a future proof digital software development platform.

We have designed multiple end-to-end journeys that can be taken out of the box with components from our Palmyra Store. The journey is agile and can be adapted, for example to make use of existing technology assets, where it makes sense.

Digital sales product distribution, featuring a streamlined application process, appeals now to both a younger and older demographic, looking for a seamless customer experience, and meets needs for management and audit reporting requirements.

NET BENEFITS

A digital journey starting from the need analysis Interview through to sharing of a proposal and final contracting / transaction event benefits the customer as they can have their needs met with uninterrupted service.

Remote Insurance Advisors or Private Banking Client Managers can focus on keeping their clients happy and winning new customers, and VERMEG has already assisted over 500 financial services providers to do this, we would like to talk with you about your challenges and tell you more, if that is something you would like to do, as you think ahead of your H2 2020 and beyond plans.

For more information please contact UKAccountManagers@vermeg.com.

DALE EASTHAM
HEAD OF EMEA COLLATERAL MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

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