“It costs five times more to acquire a customer than to retain a customer” – goes a famous adage. With due respect to this adage, if you don’t acquire new customers, your bank would cease to grow. So, one cannot overemphasize the importance of customer acquisition. Today Artificial Intelligence has permeated almost every aspect of the banking and financial industry. It looks like customer acquisition just got the Conversational AI reinforcement.
The banking customer acquisition process slowly shifted gears from physical to digital channels in the last decade. Today, banking and financial players can speed up the customer acquisition cycle and reduce the costs associated, thanks to Conversational AI. But legacy banks need to move fast as there is a constant threat of upstart fintech players giving banks a run for their money!
Meet your customers where they are
The distribution-led ‘bank branch’ growth model has few takers today. In the first decade of this millennium, the number of physical branches closely linked to banking customer base and revenues. Not anymore. Today’s digital-first customers expect you to meet them where they are – web, social, instant messenger, apps, etc. Conversational AI can help you be omnipresent on digital channels to capture your customer’s mindshare and, ultimately, the wallet share in its many avatars.
Reduce the friction in customer journeys
Every prospective banking customer would go through a handful of predefined digital customer journeys. It could start searching on Google, comparing competitor offerings, chatting with reps online, checking for social proof, etc. Banks should map these journeys and offer extensive customer touchpoints and compelling reasons for customers to move to the next stage. AI-powered voice bot or chatbot helps familiarize the customers with banking products and services and remove friction in banking journeys, thus driving new revenues and deepening relationships.
Offer personalized products and services
Banking enterprises are sitting on a treasure trove of customer data. Utilizing this data to offer more personalized customer service removes friction and delivers a transformed customer experience. Credit card companies have for long benefited by providing targeted services to their customers. Leveraging AI and predictive analytics, demographic-specific offers, location-based discounts, and brand loyalty benefits are other ways credit card providers reap rich benefits.
Listen to the voice of the customer
Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all banking services. Customers today have their primary goals laid bare, and then they have specific goals nested within these larger goals. Banks need to pay special attention to what exactly the customers are seeking. AI-based platforms like Conversational Service Automation help deliver a superior banking experience, thus empowering banks to deepen relationships with their customers. What is the customer’s implied financial needs, service expectations, apprehensions, unspoken priorities, ‘wow moment’ triggers, etc.? Machines can pore over the customer conversations across all channels for nuggets of information using conversational analytics. This way, you not only reduce the cost of customer acquisition but pave the way for a long-term relationship with banking customers based on mutual understanding.
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