Few companies are facing levels of disruption as high as those in the financial services space. While levels of disruption may vary across banking, wealth management, payments, and insurance, there can be no doubt that those who adopt a “business as usual” approach leave themselves vulnerable to new, innovative players.
People flock to these disruptors not because of the technology in and of itself, but because they provide a better overall customer experience (CX).
Established players can, however, improve their CX and win back customers through the strategic use of artificial intelligence (AI). According to Deloitte’s AI Leaders In Financial Services report, the companies that have most fully embraced AI have achieved companywide revenue growth of 19%, directly attributable to their AI initiatives.
When it comes to implementing AI initiatives, a good place to start is digital communication, which plays a key role in enhancing the customer experience. Consistent, useful communication provides a strong foundation on which to build engagement, and ultimately a better relationship with customers.
Getting to that point means having these five things in place
- A path to a single view of the customer
A single view of the customer means making all data about an individual available for other systems to customize that customer’s interaction with the company. This is important, not to know what a customer has done in the past, but to predict what a customer will need in the future. - Access to big data
External sources of data are valuable in growing and refining the shape of the customer. These sources will be either structured data that’s already been filtered for a purpose, or raw data which is unstructured. - A data analytics tool
It’s imperative to have an analytics tool that can consume available data to provide insights into customer behavior in real-time. This information is vital for two key reasons: to measure the performance of each communication against set metrics and to continually refine and improve what you know about the customer. - An AI smart decisioning tool
An AI-based decisioning tool will leapfrog your communication from personalized to hyper-personalized, by predicting user behavior and providing content based on that prediction to prompt the user’s next action. - A multichannel digital communication platform
Ultimately, designing the perfect message is of no value if you can't deliver that message to the customer. Part of the required architecture is a messaging platform that can deliver messages across digital channels and feed engagement data back into the process.
Invest now
Similar to that old proverb about the best time to plant a tree, companies who’ve already invested in AI have a serious advantage. According to Deloitte, 49% of frontrunners have a comprehensive, detailed, company-wide strategy in place for AI adoption, which departments are expected to follow, giving them immediate scale and speed over rival firms.
Those embarking on their AI journey now, however, shouldn’t resign themselves to being left in the dust. Clever use of AI allows organizations to foster a far more human-centered form of customer communication, which results in an immediate CX improvement.
As a consequence, customer retention becomes less about the friction associated with moving to another provider and more about the value derived from smart engagement and the ability to make their life easier.
And once the rest of the organization sees what an impact AI-driven customer communication has, other departments will be quick to embrace it. If this is done properly, they’ll quickly catch up, and even pass, the market leaders.
James Hall is the Commercial Director for Striata UK. He has more than 20 years experience in a wide range of technology-based roles, the majority of which have involved some form of transition to a digital solution. His expertise extends across the fields of product management, project management, account management and sales.
About Striata
Striata provides strategy, software and professional services that enable digital communication across multiple channels and devices. We are experts in message design, generation, security, delivery and storage.
Clients choose our technology and services to encrypt, send and store confidential documents; execute integrated marketing campaigns; and distribute high volume electronic communications.
The world’s largest financial services, utility, insurance, retail and telecommunications companies trust us to achieve unrivalled results in digital adoption and transformation.
We have operations in New York, London, Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Sydney and partners in North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia Pacific. www.striata.com.
Written by By James Hall, Commercial Director, Striata UK.
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