Highlights
- Customer satisfaction is driven largely by digital customer experience in the modern business world. A great UX increases your conversion rates, turning visitors into customers.
- A primary strategy for an optimized UX is to strike a balance between personalization and automated efficiency.
- Leveraging an all-in-one communications platform can improve your user experience strategies.
As banks adapt to the modern world of digital-first banking, user experience (UX) is a top priority. UX is the sentiment a customer has toward the entire sequence of interactions with your website or app. It is the digital-world equivalent to the brick-and-mortar total customer experience.
Digital banking customers, especially younger ones, have high expectations for speed, convenience, and accessibility. In a competitive arena that includes conventional banks, virtual banks, and fintech providers, UX is a key battleground if you want to win over customers.
Why UX is important for digital banking
The following is an overview of the importance of UX, including examination of how it applies to various facets of your digital banking solution.
Better conversion rates
McKinsey Digital recently reported that digital-centric customer experiences raise conversion rates for companies by as much as 20 percent. Typical customers shop the web to learn about banking options. Many come from a mobile device. As they evaluate options, they consider the quality and accessibility of your website, app, and other digital platforms.
Eliminating the requirement for a person to go to a physical location to open a bank account invites more digital-native consumers. As people shop online, a simple transition from information to product landing pages eliminates unnecessary barriers that can get in the way of a conversion.
Optimized customer satisfaction
You can’t have a great customer experience without high levels of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction helps you retain existing customers, gets them to open more accounts, and encourages them to provide you with referrals. McKinsey reported that companies that have a digital-centric structure improve customer satisfaction levels by 15 to 20 percent.
Blending convenience and efficiency with some personalization is often the key to satisfying customers on digital platforms. In addition to simple, speedy sign-up processes, customers want swift, convenient access to service reps across all popular platforms. This type of dynamic, flexible support is only possible with a comprehensive digital system.
Digitized banks now rely on cloud-based solutions to deliver the flexible, on-call support that your banking customers expect. Top solutions allow your agents to seamlessly transition from one channel to another. Call-based routing ensures customers get to the right agent the first time when they have particular needs or questions. Agents can also transfer customers quickly if they need to talk to someone else at the bank.
Reduced costs
A well-developed digital infrastructure also creates a lot of cost advantages. The McKinsey Digital report indicated that typical digitally structured companies save between 20 to 40 percent on operational costs. The more you automate routine processes, the more you save on labor costs. A digital structure also reduces the amount of office space you need for employees, equipment, and supplies. It lowers your utility costs as well.
A cloud-based communications system like the one described also contributes to cost savings. One agent can handle calls across all communication channels as opposed to having dedicated agents running each channel.
Efficient customization
Customers want a highly personalized experience. They want convenient access to account information, resources, and support without having to sift through a lot of information or content that is not relevant to them. The challenge for banks is to deliver this type of personalized experience without investing an excessive amount to do so. It is very difficult to overcome this challenge without top digital systems.
Individual customer dashboards allow you to deliver documents and secured messages to customers based on their interests or banking portfolio. You can learn about your customers’ preferences by asking them, but also by gathering behavioral data and using artificial intelligence. Part of the personalized digital experience customers want also stems from access to support on their preferred channel of communication.
A cloud-based unified communications system is vital to an optimized digital experience for banking customers. It equips your agents with the ability to help customers quickly across all platforms through which you offer access. Contact routing allows your customers to get to the right agent to assist them the first time. This feature eliminates the frustration of multiple contacts that negatively impact UX.
Conducting a digital audit
To determine how your bank is currently positioned for the digital landscape, conduct an audit of your digital systems and talent. Consider whether your existing tech infrastructure includes best-in-class features and capabilities, along with the advanced security necessary to protect the privacy of your customers.
Having the technology in place is only part of the process of optimizing your UX. People still play a critical role. It takes a total company effort to leverage digitization to give customers a balance of personalized, efficient service. Hire and retain talented employees skilled with the right customer-centric attitude, talent to serve, and ability to work with technology.
Improve digital UX with RingCentral
Your ability to provide customers with a great user experience, including cross-channel service and support, is vital to a strong UX. A cloud-based communications platform equips your team with the necessary tools to meet the expectations of the modern banking customer.
RingCentral’s cloud-based solution is best in class, and includes fully secured, cross-channel communication. It enables your agents to seamlessly shift support interactions from one channel to the next. See how it works to learn how RingCentral can help you up your UX game!
Originally published Jun 30, 2022