How can banks inspire their customers for their services?
hpo Insights
The digitization of the financial industry is not only about supplementing the distribution channels, but mainly about securing and better use of the customer interface. For many banks, it is a challenge to define target customers in the right way and to consistently focus the value proposition on the respective customer needs. But it is worth it: satisfied customers and higher earnings are the results.
Focus on the customer
- simplified product structures in a timely manner;
- personalized services and offers;
- (digital) distribution channels;
- greater price transparency; and
- better access and optimized availability of information.
The following key issues need to be answered:
- Who do you want to offer what, and how?
- What are the most important customer contact points?
- How do you design an innovative, customeroriented, multi-channel-capable customer experience chain?
- How do you transform a product-oriented bank into a customer-oriented one?
Banks that find convincing answers to these questions focus on the needs of their customers and thus enable an inspiring customer experience. On the following pages, you can find out how this can work in practice by looking at the two examples relating to the Thurgauer Kantonalbank.
“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to sell it.” Steve Jobs
Consistent alignment of the investment business with client needs
Practical example Thurgauer Kantonalbank
The investment business is undergoing fundamental change. Increasing regulatory requirements necessitate adjustments to processes and IT systems and result in higher costs. At the same time, transaction-based revenues are under pressure, and sales compensation will largely disappear sooner or later. There are also major challenges on the market side due to the low interest-rate environment, increasing cost sensitivity or new digital competitors.
Thurgau Kantonalbank (TKB) is facing up to these challenges and is consistently gearing its service promise and range of products to customer needs.
Aims of the project
The focus was on aligning TKB‘s range of services in the investment business with customer requirements and the changed market conditions, thus enabling profitable growth in the future. The following sub-goals were set:
- Formulation of a new value proposition
- Evaluation and adaptation of the service offer
Approach
To achieve the project objectives within five weeks, the project team chose a hypothesis-driven “top-downbottom-up” approach. First, different personas were described top-down as representatives of target groups.
These differed in terms of basic orientation, financial affinity (knowledge and interest) and origin of the money. The needs and requirements of these personas – in relation to their investment bank, the investment product, and the customer experience chain – were then identified and analyzed in customer-journey workshops with customer advisors, segment and product managers of TKB. This allowed deriving target group-specific performance promises and investment products.
The project results were then efficiently tested with bank clients as representatives of the personas described to identify any errors in reasoning.
Personas (illustrative)
Results
Intensive engagement with the representatives of TKB’s target groups enabled the bank to define performance promises and offers in a stringent and customer-optimized manner, thereby successfully differentiating itself from its competitors. Finally, the project results formed the basis for the design of the future role model and skill requirements for client advisors as well as the new advisory process and tools for TKB in the investment business (see next article).
Customer experience as a strategic differentiation factor in the investment business
Practical example using the Thurgauer Kantonalbank
How can a bank effectively differentiate itself in the investment business when all competitors essentially have the same product and service offering, and no one can beat the market in the long term? Based on the new service promise and offer in the investment business of Thurgauer Kantonalbank (TKB), hpo was commissioned to design and enable an optimal customer experience.
Customer experience as a strategic differentiation factor in the investment business
Aims of the project
Various studies show that the path to the target (attractive return) offers the most opportunities for differentiation. Thus, the following objectives were defined:
- Alignment of the investment advisory process with the client requirements of the identified target groups
- Identification of the most important tools along the process and derivation of their IT requirements
- Alignment of the client advisor’s role profile concerning tasks, competencies, responsibilities and incentives to the new process
Approach
During the project duration of about six weeks, hpo worked intensively with a cross-divisional team consisting of customer consultants, segment managers, internal consultants, HR, and IT. The current investment advisory process, which was printed on large format paper, was extensively revised in interactive workshops to ensure that it is optimally geared to the needs of the identified target groups.
Next, the tool requirements were specified along the investment advisory process and coordinated with IT. Based on the findings of the process design, the role profile of the client advisors was further developed in close cooperation with the HR experts.
Satisfied investment clients as a result of the newly defined approaches
Results
The project results so far are impressive! The following factors should enable the TKB to differentiate itself effectively in the investment business after project completion:
- Cross-bank customer experience (same language, approach, etc.) through a standardized and FIDLEG-compliant advisory process
- Satisfied customers thanks to a consistent focus on the needs of each target group and new customer-friendly approaches to risk profiling and monitoring
- More time for clients, as client advisors are more clearly focused on their role profile and supported by intuitive tools
Voices of our satisfied customers
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