Today COVID-19 is providing a wakeup call for financial services Chief Executive officers who face an increasingly challenging landscape. As the community shelters in place, members/customers who are more inclined to visit a branch in person are accelerating their adoption of digital services. Digital experiences are critical engagement tools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online member/customer experience has become the foundation for financial services s to deliver financial advice, hyper-personalized content, and “we are in this together” messaging.
This crisis provides the opportunity to solidify the member/customer relationship if the right steps are taken to demonstrate you care for them as an individual.
In these unique times, when marketing sends a message to a member/customer, make sure it is more than just a generic email blast. By using member/customer data Financial services can create digital experiences designed to make a human connection by being personal. Make sure each piece of content is relevant and helpful to that individual’s situation. CEOs and CMOs need to embrace digital opportunities to safeguard membership and business relationships during the crisis and post- coronavirus landscape. Three actions to take immediately include:
- Embrace agile methodologies in marketing
- Use surveys, and social to understand and listen to the unique struggles’ members/customers are facing
- Implement data insights for scenario planning to review messaging and service strategies
An agile approach enables marketing to quickly focus on information that is necessary to help members/customers get through this crisis. It is more important to get to market as fast as you can to realize the competitive advantage than to deliver perfection. Using agile marketing in conjunction with other agile technology operations enables faster business results and allows better alignment with the evolving and changing needs of your members/customers. By rolling out messaging in waves financial services s can adjust quickly as they learn by adapting content as needed without rebuilding the entire marketing campaign. Use this opportunity to use content to educate members/customers in the use of online and mobile services, connect members/customers with available financial relief programs, personal loans, payment extensions, fee waivers, or home equity options. Combining data with agile methodologies it becomes fast and easy to deliver messaging that is relevant on an individual basis.
Pivot your surveys and social communications to add value during the COVID 19 pandemic. Digitally survey or poll members/customers frequently to stress-test the financial health of members/customers and the small business community. By reporting results back to members/customers, financial services s help all members/customers understand they are not alone and provide a shared sense of togetherness. Financial services leaders are powerful social influencers, “members/customers need to hear from these community leaders what is happening and what they are doing to help them financially as an individual.” An honest dialog between members/customers and financial services leaders bolsters mental health and that having a reputable institution to turn to in a time of need is especially helpful in building trust. Trust builds relationships.
In scenario planning, data is a critical factor in determining direction. Scenarios can be pandemic related, community, institutional, services, disaster forms, financial, or just a personal touch. Offering a “personal touch” to your members/customers involves more than sending them a birthday note every year. It’s the relationship that matters. How well do you really know them? What is the current situation financially? Being aware of who your members/customers are — as people — and offering help when they need it. It makes you part of their lives — with appropriate financial support and guidance are at the heart of what you do.
OneClick Financial from ChannelNet is an ideal solution to combat the COVID-19 communications challenges facing CEOs and CMOs, as members/customers continue to stay put at home and now more than ever favor more convenient digital banking. OneClick Financial delivers a relevant member experience and drives communication that is member-centric. Through our managed services we digitally curate and package the information and tools through an agile methodology that allows financial services s to match the needs of each member.
Couple that with the fact that each action an individual member takes will enable follow-up re-engagement, as well as delivers immediate leads to branch personnel, call centers, or specialists for human follow up. By demand sensing, financial services s reduce the barriers and time it takes to deliver products and services to members/customers, helping them get the information that makes a difference in their lives today.
Finally, financial services executives should carefully draw on the opportunities that the current situation offers and use new approaches to inform and enable their digital transformation to a more personalized communication strategy while at the same time providing a much higher degree member engagement. To make the digital transformation successful, financial services s can begin by adopting digital tools that facilitate active co-creation, data decision making, and real-time communication to achieve greater efficiency.
With personalization, the mantra is, “Learn, modify, evolve.” Taking actions to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 situation and positioning the financial services to build momentum rapidly in the post-recovery phase to serve their members/customers better.