Contact centers for financial services were traditionally seen as an extension of the brick-and-mortar office. However, they now recognize that customer experience is a major differentiator in success and prosperity.

According to a Forrester study, 80% of marketing and customer experience professionals in the financial services industry believe that improving the customer experience is an immediate business priority. And, increasingly, they’re turning to their contact centers to deliver on that by building and deepening relationships — and driving a customer-centric culture.

The Contact Center as a Relationship Builder

How customers engage with companies is changing, as are their expectations. Increasingly, they’re choosing self-service, automation and digital communication channels. When a company — no matter the industry — can’t meet their needs, customers look elsewhere for a better experience. Contact centers in the financial sector must be able to cultivate valuable customer relationships. Here’s a look at a few ways your contact center can rise above competitors.

Personalization

Customers have come to expect support when and where they want it. That means automated options outside business hours and the ability to use whatever channel they prefer — from voice and email to chat and video. What’s more, your agents must be able to switch seamlessly among channels to deliver a consistent experience throughout the customer journey.

Empathy

Financial data is personal and private. When a customer needs to communicate with their financial institution, it could be about a delicate subject. Providing compassionate support in a timely manner goes a long way to easing their minds and ensuring they feel listened to and understood.

Agility

Customers expect companies to offer a constantly evolving and improving menu of services — financial services are no exception. To remain competitive, you need a contact center platform with the agility and flexibility to get new services up and running immediately — without any disruption to the business.

Technology

Without technology that allows you to connect multiple data sources, your agents will struggle with inconsistent information across channels, departmental silos and disparate systems. The right technology fosters personalized interactions based on context from the entire customer journey. A contact center platform that’s built with artificial intelligence (AI) tools can improve customer experience through digital efforts like chatbots. Capabilities like predictive engagement use and machine learning to continuously learn about customer intent and deliver personalized experiences based on preferences.

Bank on Cloud

The right cloud contact center platform lets manage end-to-end customer journeys by unifying all communication channels. With cloud, you can follow the conversation everywhere, giving customers a seamless experience, engaging and personalized experience.

When customer experience is a key differentiator, the financial services market must find ways for their contact centers to build rapport and drive customer loyalty. Your contact center can build lasting relationships with your customers. Get the Contact Babel Research Report about the financial services industry.