Financial services are at a pivotal point in the industry. The meteoric rise of NFTs and cryptocurrency has given way to rumblings of a pending recession, with the collapse of several notable banks in recent months.
As we emerge from the pandemic, some things haven’t changed: telecommuting is the new normal, and customers expect to connect with your company on their mobile devices. That means financial services: sales, claims, services, and transactions need to happen securely across digital channels.
Customers must be able to get the information they need, on demand. And while there’s increasing pressure to cut costs, financial services companies must take a prudent approach (not a slash and burn) to preserve the customer experience.
3 tips to cut customer service costs in financial services
1.Set up automated self-service
Customers want fast answers, and they want to get information on their own. By offering easy self-service, financial services firms can save on customer service costs without compromising the experience. What’s more, a best-in-class customer service solution can enable low-value customers to help themselves and each other, allowing customer service agents to concentrate on high-priority interactions.
According to the Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2023, 50 percent of customers prefer channels that provide quick responses, and around 40 percent choose channels based on the complexity of their query. As a result, self-service is a suitable option for customers with straightforward concerns, whereas those with more intricate issues may require live assistance.
2.Create high-touch service
With the right CRM platform, financial services companies can flag high-value interactions that are revenue-generating for full service. This might include a mix of live help through messaging, voice, chat, and other high-touch options.
You can enable skills-based routing to ensure the right customer service rep is matched with the customer to provide fully assisted service. And you can connect agents with the back-office team through collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams so they can work together to solve customer inquiries faster.
3.Embrace AI and automation to meet customer demands
Customer expectations keep rising, particularly in the financial services sector. Our research finds that 72 percent of consumers expect to engage with someone immediately when contacting a company and that they should be able to get in touch within a few clicks or taps.
Customers want fast responses and an easy way to get answers to their questions. Providing this support at scale without adding extra complexity and exorbitant costs means working smarter—with AI-powered chatbots, automated workflows, and self-service options.
Invest in your client relationships
We know that delivering seamless customer support at scale can be a challenge. We create innovative solutions for financial institutions that offer low cost of ownership, high ROI, and quick time to value.
That means you spend less time getting your CRM up and running, and more time doing what you do best—helping your customers.
Reference: Zendesk
Demeter ICT – No. 1 Zendesk Premier Partner in Asia Pacific and Great China Region.
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