Do Customers Want To Come Back To Face To Face?

For most of us the disruption of the pandemic is past. Financial service providers now must find a competitive edge in the new “Anywhere Economy”. Most consumers have come to expect the ability to conduct all business where they want, when they want, and how they want – remotely. What was once a differentiator has become a necessity. Many institutions are challenged to provide a truly amazing customer experience within the confines of remote digital processes. Organizations must deliver the same level – or better – customer service normally offered in-person through all channels.

According to research from Aite Group, as financial activities get more complex, consumers tend to turn to channels where they can get human help and assistance. Despite a surge in all-things “digital”, customers still value the human connection. A human-digital hybrid approach in the financial services industry will be an important combination.

Do customers want to come back to face to face?

For most of us the disruption of the pandemic is past. Financial service providers now must find a competitive edge in the new “Anywhere Economy”. Most consumers have come to expect the ability to conduct all business where they want, when they want, and how they want – remotely. What was once a differentiator has become a necessity. Many institutions are challenged to provide a truly amazing customer experience within the confines of remote digital processes. Organizations must deliver the same level – or better – customer service normally offered in-person through all channels.

According to research from Aite Group, as financial activities get more complex, consumers tend to turn to channels where they can get human help and assistance. Despite a surge in all-things “digital”, customers still value the human connection. A human-digital hybrid approach in the financial services industry will be an important combination.

There continues to be (and some say increasing) demand for a human touch. Accenture notes that comfortability with and even desire for online video conferencing solutions is growing. Before COVID-19, 15% of consumers had used a video call to communicate with an advisor. Now, 46% said they would be willing to do so, and more importantly, 35% now prefer a video solution to a face-to-face meeting.

In financial services the human element has always been key, and some say the digital space has taken away the human touch from the experience. That is why recreating the in-person experience with video-enabled communications and blending the value of human and digital assistance is the next frontier in customer engagement.

Do customers want to come back to face to face?

For most of us the disruption of the pandemic is past. Financial service providers now must find a competitive edge in the new “Anywhere Economy”. Most consumers have come to expect the ability to conduct all business where they want, when they want, and how they want – remotely. What was once a differentiator has become a necessity. Many institutions are challenged to provide a truly amazing customer experience within the confines of remote digital processes. Organizations must deliver the same level – or better – customer service normally offered in-person through all channels.

According to research from Aite Group, as financial activities get more complex, consumers tend to turn to channels where they can get human help and assistance. Despite a surge in all-things “digital”, customers still value the human connection. A human-digital hybrid approach in the financial services industry will be an important combination.

There continues to be (and some say increasing) demand for a human touch. Accenture notes that comfortability with and even desire for online video conferencing solutions is growing. Before COVID-19, 15% of consumers had used a video call to communicate with an advisor. Now, 46% said they would be willing to do so, and more importantly, 35% now prefer a video solution to a face-to-face meeting.

In financial services the human element has always been key, and some say the digital space has taken away the human touch from the experience. That is why recreating the in-person experience with video-enabled communications and blending the value of human and digital assistance is the next frontier in customer engagement.

Many of you have already implemented solutions. Many are evaluating options, and some are thinking about it. A few key points to remember:

• Consumers often need assistance and a personal touchpoint to understand and get through many of the complex forms.
• In an in-person setting, before customers are walked through lengthy application forms, their identity needs to be verified. The same is true for a virtual environment.
• “Co-browsing” is much more than just screen sharing. It enables you to review documents simultaneously, guide your customer through multi-step agreement processes, pass control to different participants, and fill out and sign forms together. The goal is to recreate a face-to-face interaction — as if you were signing a paper-and- pen agreement in-person.
• Agreements? As with any electronically signed document, it’s important to be able to prove intent and ensure document integrity. This includes providing comprehensive audit trails that capture every action taken and making it easy to verify e-signed documents to ensure no changes have been made to the document since it was signed.
• Offer Virtual Rooms to deliver the quality of service your customers enjoyed from your in-person meetings.
• To ease all into, be able to upload documents or select templates, invite to virtual room, authenticate, interact, complete documents, guide workflows for your customers, download documents.