Improving the Investor & Channel Partner Experience through Customer ...

Improving the Investor & Channel Partner Experience through Customer Service Innovation

Improving the Investor & Channel Partner Experience through Customer Service Innovation

Background

Today's investors and channel partners ? Broker Dealers, Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), Financial Planners, Financial Institutions, and Global Consultant Firms ? are more informed and connected than ever before. The balance of power has shifted. Your customers and partners are empowered to make more informed business decisions, with information at their fingertips.

According to Microsoft's 2017 State of Global Customer Service Report, 96% of U.S. consumers say customer service is important in their choice of loyalty to a brand, and 56% say they have stopped doing business with a brand due to a poor customer service experience.A Obviously, it is critical for firms to continue down a path of service innovation in order to stay competitive.

Think about the following data points when building your Customer Experience Service strategy from a cost center to a customer-partner retention center.

72% of businesses say that improving the client experience is their top priority. -Forrester Companies lose more than $62 billion due to poor customer Service. -NewVoiceMedia Increasing customer retention rates by 5% can increase profits by 25% to 95% depending on industry. -Bain & Company

Based on a recent Forrester report on customer experience, it is clear that few businesses B deliver an outstanding experience:

1

Excellent

10

11 42

Good OK

37

53%

Poor

Very Poor

Customer Preference Center and Customer Segmentation

Having a well-articulated and defined segmentation strategy at every level of an investor and channel partner journey - from an inquiry type segmentation and onboarding process to managing channel and investor personas and communication preferences - will be a key differentiator in helping set yourself apart from your competition. Indeed, Forrester data shows that 72% of businesses say that improving the client experience is their top priority.B

One segment in particular has been a big driver of this Capital Markets customer service transformation: millennials. Standing at more than 80 million strong in the U.S. alone (the largest cohort size in U.S. history and more than a quarter of the current US population), millennials represent a highly influential segment in the marketplace ? they are well educated, technologically savvy, and digitally connected.

Millennial consumers contribute more than $600 billion in spending each year, which is 28% of all daily per-person consumer spending ? and in the next ten years, that figure will jump to 35%.C Their ability to access self-service, live chat, SMS/text, and social channels are key to their service satisfaction. In fact, 93% of millennials report that they expect a brand or organization to offer an online self-service support portal.A

Millennials are seeking a seamless client-centric experience across all channels that is tailored to their

needs. Omni-channel is their language ? while they have a reputation for doing everything on their smart phones, the fact is that 53% of millennials make the majority of their purchases offline.D Nevertheless, 67% of them have used online messaging to communicate with a business, and 88% would do so again.E Capital

Markets firms looking to grow their market share need to ensure they are innovating their service to meet

the changing needs of this largest demographic.

The Rising Importance of Omni-channel Innovation

With investor and channel partner behavior driving the client service transformation, we are seeing more and more firms attempting to drive an Omni-channel experience with varying degrees of success. According to Deloitte's 2017 Global Contact Center Survey, 80% of businesses cited improving the client experience ? via omni-channel expansion, among other service innovations ? as the primary driver of investment. These initiatives are especially important considering that 85% of organizations anticipate that client contacts will become increasingly complex in the next two years.F

What we are finding is that B2C and B2B clients are the primary force behind this approach, and these investors and channel partners are defecting if a particular business does not have their communication channel preference. The U.S. State of Multichannel Customer Service Report states 89% of firms with extremely strong Omni-channel customer engagement retain their customers, compared to only 33% for firms with weak Omni-channel engagement.

Social Media

Mobile

Online

Big Data

Customer

CRM

Physical Store

The primary channels we are seeing used within the Capital Markets industry are the most traditional ones: phone, email, and chat. However, for the first time we are seeing alternative channels like self-service and BOTs begin to outpace the growth trajectories of these traditional channels. In addition, channels like mobility and video conferencing are helping facilitate onsite home and business interactions, extending the overall platform and closed-loop, streamlined process. Here are three channels where we are seeing the most growth and innovation:

Automation of Client-Driven Activities

The regulations surrounding all activities conducted by capital markets firms mean investors and channel partners are high-touch, and therefore high-cost. However, automation is trending in the industry, and soon things like client screening and onboarding investors, onboarding RIAs and broker dealers, account summaries, self-service portals, redemptions notifications, background checks, transaction monitoring, and transfer agent servicing will be at least partially automated, driving new efficiencies and lowering per-transaction costs.G Obviously, firms that are able to reduce human touches in routine transactions will be the most competitive, so end-to-end digitization of the investor and channel partner journey is a primary technology goal.

Predictive Analytics and Proactive Service

Predict the needs of your investors and channel partners by identifying trends, anticipating opportunities, and gaining insight by employing predictive analytics within client service centers. For example, if an investor calls into the client service center with a specific concern about an investment product, predictive analytics can recommend solutions and services to resolve the issue, provide upsell/cross-sell opportunities, and automatically notify his or her client services representative.

With the ability to use predictive analytics, not only do you impress your clients with proactive service, you also open the conversation to more opportunities. Two-thirds (67%) of organizations are planning to invest in advanced analytics solutions in pursuit of providing a better client experience, so focusing on predictive analytics and proactive service is a must for Capital Markets firms.H

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) certainly isn't new to the capital markets industry, but it is now on the verge of becoming the face of the industry ? literally. In fact, 76% of bank executives believe that by 2020, AI will be their firms' primary point of client contact; 71% believe AI has the potential to become the face of their organization or brand.I One-third of contact centers will invest in AI robotics and process automation in the next two years.F

"76% of bank executives believe that by 2020, AI will be their firms' primary point of client contact"

Improving the Customer Experience According to a survey conducted by The Service Council, 73% of organizations reporting an increase in client satisfaction state that the improvement was due to an increased focus on front-line personnel. Investor and channel partner experience can have a major impact on loyalty, and there are ways an organization can innovate to ensure they are providing a higher level of service. In a recent study, Forrester ask participants, "Which of the following initiatives are likely to be your organization's top business priorities over the next 12 months?" The results are clear. Customer Experience is critical.B

Better comply with regulations

Improve differentiation in market

Reduce costs

Improve customer experience

Grow revenues

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%8 80%

Leaders see Customer Experience as a path to revenue growth

Three major areas where investors are gauging their experiences with client service are: access to a self-service option, knowledgeable client service representatives, and personalized experiences. Here's how you can innovate to meet these opportunities:

Make Customer Service Effortless Through Self-service

Self-service has become the channel that investors seek to resolve issues even before they pick up the phone or send an email. According to Microsoft's 2017 State of Global Customer Service Report, 75% of respondents said they have used a search engine to find an answer to a service-related question before calling an agent, and 90% expect a brand or organization to offer a self-service support portal or FAQ page.A Indeed, most customers are looking up solutions to issues on their own before picking up the phone. Mobile capabilities have allowed investors to easily access the information they need while on the go.

By providing a customizable online support portal that leverages an organized, searchable knowledgebase to deliver real-time updates, consistent answers to service questions, and investment product information and documentation, it will be easier for your investors and channel partners to solve issues on their own. Web self-service has passed the phone channel as the most popular resource for investors. As this trend continues, it is becoming increasingly important for Capital Markets firms to provide an updated and streamlined knowledge approach to addressing the needs of their clients.

"According to a survey conducted by The Serive Council, 73% of organizations reporting an increase in client satisfaction state that the imporvement was due to an increased focus on frontline personnel."

More Knowledgeable Client Services Representatives

When clients are unable to solve issues with self-service, they will escalate them to live agents through various channels like phone, email, and chat. It is now very important for Client Services Representatives (CSRs) to be ready to answer questions that are more complex when self-service portals don't cut it.

Increasingly, investors are demanding quick answers to questions and a poor experience with a live CSR is an obvious detriment to building positive relationships with your investors and channel partners. In fact, nearly a third of consumers report that a CSR not having the knowledge or ability to solve their problem is the single most frustrating aspect of a poor client service experience.A This trend highlights the importance of agents having quick access to their own knowledge database in order to provide accurate solutions.

Through a CRM global case management and unified service desk experience that is powered with knowledge everywhere and inquiry type segmentation, CSRs have better access to information. This allows them to make informed business decisions in real time, and through these solutions we are seeing a reduction in Average Handle Time (AHT) by as much as 20% with an increase in CSAT scores by as much as 15%.

Personalized Experiences

Investors and channel partners want the CSRs with whom they interact with to have access to their information--such as location, history, and recent purchases--in order to understand their needs quickly, regardless of channel. Empowering agents to deliver these personalized experiences is necessary, as these interactions are major drivers for client loyalty. In fact, 73% of global marketers believe that success depends on their ability to deliver a personalized experience for their clients.J This means CSRs will need access to accurate customer data that will help provide a personalized and proactive experience. In terms of cross-sell and upsell capabilities, 72% of consumers who contact a service center expect the CSR to know a plethora of information about them, including contact information, purchase history, and prior service requests.A Capital Markets firms whose CSRs have this information at their fingertips have a leg up in terms of client retention and new sales opportunities.

It's Time to Pursue Service Innovation

Today's investors and channel partners expect much more out of the service they receive, and they will not hesitate to cease partnering with an investment firm due to bad experiences. In fact, according to a study by Kayako, a single bad client service experience will cause a whopping 66% of consumers to simply stop doing business with a firm.K Therefore, it is critical for firms to continue to innovate in their service areas to ensure success. By meeting these service trends head on, businesses will see a marked increase in both client satisfaction and revenue while reducing OPEX costs. In fact, increasing client retention rates by just 5% leads to an increase in profits of between 25% and 95%, and the cost of acquiring a new investor or channel partner is at least five times as high as simply retaining one you already have.L

By innovating through a CRM solution and an Omni-channel approach to client service, you can provide an integrated and optimized desktop to your sales and service agents alike, view real-time reporting and dashboards, and achieve a true "voice of the customer."

By innovating through a CRM solution and an Omni-channel approach to client service, you can provide an integrated and optimized desktop to your sales and service agents alike, view real-time reporting and dashboards, and achieve a true "voice of the customer."

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