TMCnews Featured Article
February 15, 2011
CRM Solutions Can Help Create a Loyal Customer Base for the Financial Institution
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
The most recent economic downfall left many companies to pick up the pieces and try to make a fresh start. Fortunately, the recovery is providing opportunities for those still surviving, but the market has changed and the same game is no longer being played. For those operating in the financial services sector, the challenge today will be in delivering a higher level of customer service to gain the competitive advantage.
To achieve this higher level, organizations need to leverage CRM Solutions.In this recent Infor blog, a 1 to 1 Executive Dialogue was captured between Don Peppers, founding partner of Peppers & Rogers Group, and Steve Muran, financial industry subject matter expert with Infor. The two industry experts talked about the importance of customer retention and how financial institutions can gain a competitive advantage when they rebuild customer trust.
Financial institutions have certainly lost consumer trust over the last several years and now must deploy proven methods to gain it back again if they hope to thrive. One of the best ways to build customer trust, according to Peppers, is to leverage customer data captured in CRM Solutions. This enables the organization to be completely honest with customers, explain what they are doing and why.
It is also important for the organization to take action to redress issues, being careful to take action where it is promised. Personalized relationships are also important, according to Muran, as it demands that the financial institution understand and even anticipate the needs of the customer, while also supplying superior service.Even as financial institutions integrate disparate sources of data to better manage the customer lifecycle, there are still issues that remain. CRM Solutions can help to overcome these issues by focusing on what the organization can do for the customer.
The organization must visualize how to create the most possible value for each customer as they are not easily replaced.Every time a customer experiences a brand, he or she also changes his or her opinion about the brand. If the experience is favorable, the opinion improves and the likelihood of buying more in the future is increases. Likewise, if the experience is unfavorable, the opinion deteriorates and the likelihood of buying in the future decreases.
The experiences today certainly change the lifetime value of the brand, and CRM Solutions can help leverage a positive experience. When the financial institution is able to view customers across multiple touch points with CRM Solutions, they know the customer and can provide frontline employees with smarter tools. At the same time, the organizations can deliver better service and products to achieve a loyal base and a healthy bottom line.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Juliana Kenny
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