The CX stakes are rising in financial services and insurance

As revealed in a new report by Talkdesk Research, customer loyalty is on the line at every touchpoint.

Customer experience (CX) is the differentiator for businesses in all industries. CX stakes are rising, and customers have the power to vote with their wallets. Financial services and insurance institutions are left to balance delivery against customer expectations with the challenge of multiple legacy applications and new digital touchpoints. The pressure is also on to compete with a growing share of digitally-native companies and mobile-first, always-on technology that are commonplace and re-defining expectations in many other industries. These insights, initially observed by Talkdesk’s CMO, spurred the development of our new report.

“In prioritizing customer listening, we would readily hear the CX challenges and opportunities facing our customers, including many in the financial services and insurance industry,” says Kathie Johnson, CMO at Talkdesk. “In recognizing the value we were gaining from our customer and market insights, we were looking for a way to share what we were hearing so our customers might benefit as well. This is how Talkdesk Research was born.” Talkdesk Research™, a new solutions group established at Talkdesk, focuses on delivering proprietary research reports for the CX industry. The first report launched is The CX Revolution in Financial Services and Insurance.

Financial services and insurance customers are clear on how they feel about CX.

In developing this new report, we surveyed more than 200 CX global professionals across banking, lending, wealth, insurance, payments and fintech, and almost 900 financial services customers. The results are crystal clear: loyalty is on the line at every touchpoint and positive or negative experiences can influence allegiance towards a brand.

In the financial services and insurance industry, CX is often a primary driver of acquisition, retention—and churn. The global pandemic has further elevated the importance of CX, as branches have closed and in-person contact has been drastically reduced. Customers have had to primarily rely on contact centers and digital applications to service their needs, from opening new brokerage accounts, to applying for mortgages or even adding new insurance coverage. Customers are demanding both high tech and high touch.

The good news is that financial services and insurance firms are working hard to live up to customer expectations. The challenging news is that it’s hard to do.

Bringing CX to the forefront requires a cultural shift.

Knowing CX is a business accelerator, the roles and responsibility for improving experience are expanding to include not only senior leadership, but all employees.

While CX ownership and accountability needs to be a priority for executive leadership, the shift signaling that CX is partly everyone’s responsibility requires a cultural change, training and reinforcement. It highlights an enterprise-wide approach to bringing CX to the forefront.

But as customers are demanding more and financial services organizations are prioritizing improvement, obstacles are somewhat inevitable. Like digital transformation, CX transformation often happens in silos, with different departments focusing on different initiatives, utilizing various software and applications, and leaving what is intended to be a seamless experience, disjointed.

It’s these disjointed gaps—often invisible to higher management, but painfully obvious to contact center agents and frontline workers—that prevent engaging experiences and can trigger negative customer sentiment leading to competitive switching. So, what is challenging financial services CX the most?

Find the answer to this question and more by downloading The CX Revolution in Financial Services and Insurance report.