Don’t Forget Customers are People
As a national financial services speaker who started his career in the financial services and insurance industries, I am familiar with the problems facing advisors and their firms. We live in the new age of digitization and data.
In the past few years, the industry has witnessed massive data breeches which, of course, leads to questions about data protection. No matter your particular situation or organization, savvy customers will ask hard-ball questions about security and behind that, the issue of trust.
Speaking of data, are the twin issues of AI and “big data.” They are highly interconnected. More information will come at both you and your customers in various ways and in many ways, they will be both bridged and “threatened” by digital marketing. As the level of AI sophistication expands, as a financial services speaker, I can well assure you, that your chief competitor could be a computer database that knows more about your potential customers than you do.
The surprising finding
However, the latest research from Deloitte and other reputable market research firms points to other factors somewhat non-digital in basis.
While your prospects and established customers want the convenience of automated services at the same time, they want greater personalization. To further muddy the waters, all of those brochures extolling the company history and traditional branded materials? New generations of consumers could care less. Sorry, but brand loyalty and corporate identity are meaningless if the corporate website is impossible to navigate and when a customer calls with a legitimate question, no one knows who they are.
The finding leads to some serious soul-searching on the part of financial services organizations. It is a matter of determination and mindset. Virtual or in-person, to beat out the competition, will require an understanding of what financial services customers are trying to convey to say to the industry. I will quickly summarize those points:
- Despite the obvious dependence on data, the financial services industry should not get complacent and believe data is more important than real communication.
- Communication is important but it must be personalized. Know your customers.
- Adding to that point, your customers are conscious of their security. What is your organization doing to protect them and their financial transactions?
- Whether your organization was founded in 1723 or 2003 is not as important to Millennials and Gen Z as the quality of your financial products and their costs.
- The best intentions coupled with the best products are “nice,” but if the consumer portal of the organizational website is more complex to navigate than a 787, they won’t be back.
As a national financial services speaker, it is again important for me to reiterate that the determination to deliver the best products, with the best, personalized communication is a mindset that must be shared by everyone in the organization. Your customers are people, not data points.
The competition has never been tougher but I know who can rise above it.
To reach Scott Burrows, Financial Services Motivational Speaker, please contact him today by phone at 520 – 548 – 1169 or through this website.
