Build Recession Readiness Through Better Customer Connections

An important lesson from the last financial crisis was that creating better human connections with customers in times of stress can encourage better solutions, reduce losses, and strengthen long-term relationships. Now, with recent risk models?showing that financial clouds are building, old lessons are coming back to the fore.?

Rising delinquencies, higher interest rates, and a predicted global recession are all?creating a potential credit risk problem?that has forced banks to add to their?loan loss reserves. But despite the headlines, banks can still prepare for the coming downturn by?enhancing their customer experience, while reducing losses. How is this possible? The answer lies in better interactions, enabled by AI.?

Use AI to build better interactions

Collections interactions with?financial institutions?can be emotionally challenging for customers. Debt?causes financial and emotional stress, meaning that human connection and empathy are critical to successful collections interactions.

Banks can improve these interactions, empowering both their collectors and customers, by using AI technology to support?better human connections that engender empathy?and?drive results. By analyzing information relevant to the context of an interaction — such as a customer’s reason for contacting their bank in the past — behavioral pairing can discern which collector is best suited for each individual’s situation, then pair them accordingly.

This technology treats each customer and collector as individuals,?creating a customer-collector pairing that is far more likely to result in a better emotional connection and deliver a positive outcome for both sides.?

For example: picture an outbound call between a collector and a customer. Before the collector dials the phone, Afiniti’s technology uses real-time data about the customer, all available collectors, and historical interactions to build a model of the predicted outcomes of all possible pairings. It then applies patented algorithms to pair the customer with the collector best suited to find a successful resolution and provide a positive customer experience.

This kind of pairing doesn’t just help customers manage their financial stress; it also puts collectors in the best position to provide an empathetic customer experience, boost their productivity, and feel greater job satisfaction.

Seize the opportunity to be there for your customers

As a predicted downturn draws near, institutions are likely to face a higher volume of customer interactions, meaning that contact centers may have less flexibility to implement new technology.

That is why it is crucial for banks to seize the opportunity now. By improving customer experience and collections capabilities before the headwinds become too strong, banks can prepare for what’s ahead, rather than react at a later stage. They can set their customers up for better outcomes, empower collectors, and prepare their business for incoming challenges before operations become overtaxed. And it all starts with the transformative power of AI.

If you are interested in seizing this moment, read more?here?or reach out to us!