Banking Needs To Put Emotion Back Into Customer Experience
?? Jim Marous
Top 5 Retail Banking Influencer, Global Speaker, Podcast Host and Co-Publisher at The Financial Brand
Customer experience in banking has been relegated to a subservient position, responsible for 'ease of use' and measured by questionable customer satisfaction scores. Lost in the translation is the emotional ties consumers have with their money and how banking can help with needs.
By Duena Blomstrom, Owner and Digital Experience Expert, Duena Blomstrom Consulting
There is more to a positive consumer experience in banking than the time it takes to do a transaction or the design of a mobile app. In a rush to innovate and improve channel delivery, most banks and credit unions have forgotten to take the time to think of how money and feelings are entwined.
At what point did the banking industry forget that people have strong emotions about their money? Today, consumers can feel this glaring oversight at every level of their interaction with institutions that build products with no insight, or even consideration, as to how the products emotionally resonate with consumers.
Unlike other consumer product industries, most financial institutions don’t have teams of behavioural psychologists pouring over slides of human expressions around the services offered. The industry forgets about the way people react to different financial situations.
Lit up eyes and a gaping mouth? This must be the expression of someone who came into an unexpected monetary windfall. They’re elated, with questions around what they should do next. Narrowed eyes, a staunch frown and clenched jaws? This must be the anxiety around an unexpected bill, defaulting on a loan or needing to borrow from an aging parent.
Not only are these teams non-existent at most financial organizations, but this type kind of thinking is missing in all but a select few progressive institutions internationally.
Feelings Are Scary, Numbers Are Safe
Maybe the banking industry is too busy with other priorities to think about consumer emotions. Between the basic ‘numbers of banking’, compliance, competition, innovation and the unexpected surprise of the day, the industry is too busy.
We adjust APRs, we invest hundreds of millions, we count our clients (sometimes we do this twice), we agonize over the latest regulation and we scrutinize any of the four magic quadrants for answers that will provide marketplace success.
And while the industry invests significant amounts of money on consumer satisfaction ratings, somewhere deep down we know they aren’t truly happy. The expectations in banking are set rather low in the consumer’s mind, so ‘satisfaction’ may actually mean ‘non-dramatically-dissatisfied.’ And since few spend time finding the direct correlation between genuine positive emotion and dollar signs, we aren’t too sure we care about the distinction.
Fintech Firms Fill The Emotional Void
“We’re committed to helping college students succeed in their academic journey. That means we can’t get away with products CIOs love to buy … we need to build products students love to use,” stated John Kolko from Blackboard. While is a different industry, his statement summarizes how his company arrived at the understanding that the end consumer matters deeply from an emotional point of view.
People developer utilizing data & analytics to improve digital channels, contact centers, and customer insights.
9 年Great article! Its perhaps because money is such a sensitive and perhaps off limits topic that its difficult to be openly emotional when it comes to monetary transactions.
PR Manager at Opportunities Australia
9 年Great. I reckon everyone else does too.
Living at the edge of Insurance & Technology | Managing Director, Head of Global Insurance at Google Cloud | #makeinsurancelovable
9 年I dont think its just banks. Bring back empathy!
Future-Proof Organization Practitioner -- Human leadership fuels high performance. If you have open mind, I help add open culture to leverage open-source - Change is risk: doing the same leads nowhere. Let's move on!
9 年Banks will become human again?!:)
Writer and Website Content Creator. Semi-retired.
9 年I agree that banker conversations are more focused on things like mobile and payments and speed these days. But they have to be in order to keep up. However, that being said, your post is a great reminder that balance is needed. Customer experience is still the most important consideration. Someone at each bank has to be the chief customer officer and ask, how will this change affect our customers? Usually thst is Marketing. I would like to add that There are many community banks that don't belong under this broad brush. They are surviving against all the competition by keeping the personal in banking. And while high tech offerings are cool and fun and convenient, they don't make my heart go pitter patter. I still need my community bank--with genuine, caring people.