Customer Experience Takes Center Stage in Annual Banking Report
| The value of customer experiences is illustrated in comScore’s Annual State of Online Banking Report, where banks and credit-card institutions experienced a decline in customer satisfaction for the second consecutive year. “Bank and credit-card institutions experienced a decline in customer satisfaction for the second consecutive year.”
Additionally, in their one-million-person consumer panel survey found that the quality of customer service surged 18 percentage points, indicating a fast-emerging point of differentiation among financial institutions. The authors conclude, “As the economic climate continues to improve, it will be important for banks and other financial institutions to focus intently on driving customer satisfaction and brand loyalty in order to retain and grow market share. Those who are effective in doing so will be in the best position to take advantage of new opportunities in the market as the economy returns to form.” |
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Of course online banking is just one piece of the overall customer journey. Every touch with the bank at the branch office, contact center and web all mesh into an overall perception of the bank and the brand and influences loyalty.
In Forrester’s Customer Experience Index, researcher Bruce Temkin tracked movement of the banking and financial services sector. The survey of more than 4,600 US consumers revealed that financial services companies did better than they ever have in terms of placement; however the 2010 index shows slippage by the vertical. “The lesson in the banking industry and financial services is you have to stay constantly focused on customer experience,” Temkin says.
