Did you know that there are approximately 8,525 bank branches still operating in the United Kingdom? These locations have not been running as usual throughout the middle of 2020, but their existence points to something crucial: customers clearly like a human touch in their banking service.
Is this preference at odds with the digital revolution? It might seem that way, but technology continues to be better at meeting human needs, even in banking. What gets in the way is how banks use this technology and how it fits in with their overall business strategy. It’s crucial to take a close look at your ideal customer journey and make sure your technology matches customer pain points, including those involving security. It’s also crucial to find the right partner, one that can support all the good things you’re doing and help your technology work even better for your business.
Re-Imagine the Customer Journey
Imagine, for a moment, that your company is running absolutely flawlessly. What does that look like from your customers’ perspective? Are your customers expending little to no effort during their banking experience? Are technical issues largely a thing of the past? And when they do experience issues, are solutions easy to come by?
Now, contrast that with how your customer journey map currently looks. Your customers are likely experiencing a couple of things that could be improved. Maybe their banking app is running more slowly than they expect it to, or maybe a paperwork glitch requires a tiresome phone call. When you imagine what your customer journey could look like, it’s easier to see the customer pain points that the right technology could fix.
Match Technology to Customer Pain Points
As you’re creating your strategy in partnership with the key players at your bank, ask yourself: Is our current technology making pain points worse? Is it introducing any new pain points?
If the answer to either of those questions is yes, don’t worry. You can take the technology you already have and make a few adjustments to ensure that it is contributing to, not detracting from, your bank’s strategy.
For example, ServiceNow can help banks digitize IT incident management reports, automate manual tasks, and implement self-service for users. When these capabilities are combined with insights about pain points the organization is experiencing, they are even more helpful. We’ve helped banks around the world use ServiceNow to update their workflows based on their specific challenges so both internal users and external customers have a streamlined experience tailored to their needs.
Let’s say you’ve looked for customer pain points and found that the human touch is missing in your customers’ experience. You’re working on adding more human touch by using ServiceNow, but your business has just acquired a few new entities who brought their own IT platforms with them, which is causing slow resolution times whenever customers experience IT issues. Now you have two pain points: (1) a lack of human touch and (2) slow resolution times due to the disparate sources of data coming from multiple IT platforms.
The pressing problem here is the disparate systems; until that is resolved, the human touch element takes a back seat. The technology solution? Get all of the disparate data sources consolidated in ServiceNow. Then onto the human touch issue: Set up self-service in ServiceNow so your IT team has the time to chat one-on-one with customers facing more difficult issues.
Focus on Security
With so much relying on cloud technology these days, security is a huge concern.
“While security concerns impact all industries, banks are often seen carrying the biggest burden when it comes to security lapses,” reports Banking CIO Outlook. “Similarly, banks are always under scrutiny regarding regulatory compliance.”
To keep your data secure, make sure your cloud providers have extensive encryptions, SaaS-based security, reliable and certified hardware, and regulatory management tools. But don’t take a bandage approach—secure technology won’t be enough. Create a proactive security strategy that works alongside your technology to protect your clients. For a proactive approach, Matt Tengwall, vice president and general manager of fraud and security solutions at Verint SystemsPrevention, suggests the following:
- Use the Cloud “to share real-time intelligence, mitigate risk, and ensure efficient response.”
- Implement deep learning and data analysis to detect threats early on.
- Collect as much data as possible—knowledge is power!
Find the Right Partner
Once you’ve identified customer pain points, matched technology functions to those pain points, and added a security element to your strategy, you’re ready for the next step: finding a partner. The good news is that, after all the hard work you’ve done, adding a true partner like Crossfuze is an easy next step for taking all the good you already have and making it even better.
We’ve helped banks from around the globe ensure their ServiceNow instance is built to support the ideal customer journey so the bank is on course for ongoing growth. Today’s challenges are tough enough, but by 2030, banks will need to be ready to parry cyber risk and financial crime, maintain the integrity of data analytics as more third parties enter the space, and improve agility as the digital landscape rapidly changes. We’ve helped banks such as Baird and KeyBank configure ServiceNow with best practice and minimal customisation in mind to help expand user adoption as well as future-proof the platform.
With all the technology available today, banks need to make sure the tools they use support rather than hinder their overall growth strategy. By reimagining the customer journey, matching technology to customer pain points, focusing on security, and aligning with the right partner, your bank can be prepared to meet any challenge it faces.Contact us today to learn how Crossfuze can help you revitalise ServiceNow and reach your long-term goals.
