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Fuel Your Digital Future with Customer-First Solutions

Appian Contributor
September 17, 2018

"The most startling truth is we don't even think our way to logical solutions. We feel our way to reason. Emotions are the substrate, the base layer of neural circuitry underpinning even rational deliberation. Emotions don't hinder decisions. They constitute the foundation on which they're made!"

- Douglas Van Praet

Don't Build Financial Services Products Build Connections with Customers

Financial services institutionsthrive when they can acquire new customers and retain those that they already have simple, right?

Simple, if financial institutions remember that their customers are human, and human decisions and behaviors are driven by instinct and emotion. So, the focus must shift to building emotional connections with customers, not on selling more products. When financial institutions lead with a product or service and then try to find as many customers as possible to buy that product or service, they are missing the mark.

According to a recent Booz Allen study, businesses with a customer-first mindset, and cost-effective delivery, outperformed industry peers two-to-one in revenue growth, and generated profit margins 5- 10% above their competitors.

Meet Your Customers Where They Are

Financial services customers are becoming more and more sophisticated and their expectations for superior services are constantly growing. They demand the ability to transact 24x7 wherever they are, through whatever channel they prefer. They want a personalized experience and two-way communication. The message must be consistent, well-organized, and informed by knowledge of the customer, regardless of where or when the customer looks for information.

To meet these growing needs, financial institutions must leverage real-time data and analytics to implement a high-touch approach that is simple, intuitive, and fast. This strategy will enable them to be forward-looking and predictive to know what customers want even before they do.

Be Open to a Cultural Shift

How do financial institutions change culturally to deliver banking solutions in new ways? It can be challenging for an organization to look beyond the traditional bricks and mortar growth strategy. Organizations need a new vision that can fit strategically with the data that they already have using it to grow in a different way than they used to grow.

Successful financial institutions will involve cross-functional teams in the transformation to customer-centricity. There is valuable information across the organization, all employees possess great insight into the customer base, not just front-line, customer-facing employees. A customer-focused culture is not just about providing better customer service at the front line, it is about infusing all your actions as a business with a sense of how the customer is affected by those actions.

Save the Dates

Please be sure to mark your calendars we look forward to seeing you this fall. We'll be at FinovateFall at the Marriott Marquis Times Square, New York, NY on September 24-26. Please visit us at booth #8 and don't miss Mike Heffner, our VP, Global Financial Services and Insurance Industry, as he chairs the Digital Lending Summit on Wednesday September 26th from 1:30-3:30 pm.

Traveling to Sydney? We'll see you at Sibos at the International Convention Centre (ICC) from October 22-25. Please schedule a meeting with our financial services executives, visit our booth (K-10), and don't miss our presentation on Wednesday, 24 October at 12:15 in open theatre #2 on level four of the convention centre.

Visit our Appian Financial Services Resource center to learn more about our low-code digital platform.

Fuel Your Future