Can Adopting Customer Relationship Management Technology Optimise Customer Experience?

For Relationship Managers (RMs), the use of CRM technology in banking has become a hot button issue. More and more customer success teams are investigating whether adopting customer relationship management technology can optimise the customer experience, especially in an increasingly digital environment.

The global pandemic has accelerated a decade-long trend towards less human involvement in banking and more reliance on technology - as face-to-face visits with banking professionals are increasingly replaced by online services, chatbots and apps. While this has led to some improvements for customers - such as speedier transactions and 24/7 access - 78% of SMEs agreed that the digital transformation of banking needs to be balanced with a human touch.

It’s all about creating a blended, hybrid approach. One that balances the ease and accessibility of digitisation with the relational benefits of human interaction. An approach that puts customer experience at the centre of everything.

This is an approach that CRM technology can support.

What is a hybrid approach?

While digitisation has provided huge benefits to banks and customers alike, one area has suffered in the race to replace the bank on the high street with the app in your pocket. Customer experience. A staggering 58% of SMEs believe that the digital transformation of banking has caused a drop-off in the quality of service they receive as customers.

A hybrid approach combines digitisation with a human element to offset the challenges of each approach while strengthening the positives.

Better technology lets you leverage data at the most important stages of the customer journey - discovering exactly when customers want automation to streamline the process, and where they’d like genuine human interaction.

This is especially important for high value or complex deals where a reputation manager needs to get a hands-on feel for how a new customer’s business works, and for any unique requirements that will need to be handled.

By blending the smoother onboarding and risk reduction of digital banking with genuine human connection, you can offer the best of both worlds.

Can adopting CRM technology really put the human element back into banking?

The main issue most customers have with digital banking is a feeling that they’re on a computerised conveyor belt. Things happen because computers say so, and there’s no opportunity to stop or to change direction.

Customers want to feel valued, and the banking industry needs to support them with a real human connection. The use of CRM technology supports that human touch, identifying critical stages where a personal call, email or meeting will provide that real feeling of value for the customer.

And because this human element is backed by the benefits of automation, banks can use customer relationship management systems to stand out from the competition with frictionless onboarding journeys.

It’s not just about putting people back into the process. It’s about supporting those people to make life easier for customers at every stage of the journey.

How should RMs use CRM technology to optimise customer experience?

As we found in our report, written in collaboration with FinTech Futures, RMs are making more and more use of CRM technology. RMs now have more work than ever before, often dealing with huge numbers of clients, all of whom expect a more personal service.

The use of CRM tech to track these customers and provide RMs with in-depth information allows for a much deeper personal connection. It’s no longer on an individual RM to remember facts and figures or find time to set meetings and arrange calls - instead, the CRM system collects and leverages customer data to aid RMs.

Instead of digitisation placing customers on a conveyor belt, adopting customer relationship management technology allows banks and RMs to form deeper, more meaningful customer relationships and provide a better, streamlined customer experience.

Adopting customer relationship management technology with FullCircl

FullCircl can help you to adopt a true hybrid approach, providing your customers with the very best of digital and personal banking services. By correctly interpreting and leveraging data, we’ll empower you to make the best use of your expertise and offer a much better customer experience to your key clients.

Download your free copy of the report here.

Alternatively if you have any questions about adopting CRM technology or the services FullCircl can provide, email letstalk@fullcircl.com.