By Khadim Batti, Co-founder and CEO of Whatfix
Automation is everywhere across financial services;. McKinsey notes that up to 80% of transactional operations such as general accounting operations and payments processing, and around 40% of more strategic activities like financial controlling and reporting, financial planning and analysis, and treasury can be automated.
Today, customers expect their financial services providers to deliver an omnichannel experience that can aid self-service support, and banks that lack a clear long-term automation plan will struggle to meet customer expectations, according to McKinsey. But there are many automated technologies financial organisations can look to harness in order to meet these expectations.
McKinsey’s “The imperatives for automation success” survey findings suggest, that successful organisations continue to focus on employees as much as technology — and that they have instituted new ways of doing so in which employees work alongside the new technologies.
Automated Digital Adoption Platforms (DAPs), for instance, go hand-in-hand with AI & automation, especially in the acceleration of customer and employee onboarding through automation, helping to deepen customer engagement and improve customer experience.
A piece of instructional no-code software that sits as an additional layer on top of other software applications, such as login instructions or login ID management, to help train and guide users on how to best use and navigate the digital resources, DAPs can massively improve the agility and effectiveness of business processes across an organisation.
The three benefits of automated DAPs are:
- Simplified login
By far one of the most common processes for a customer using digital banking or other financial services is logging in to an online portal or app, whether they’re returning users or creating a new profile. For larger business customers, this expands to an extensive and highly-regulated user ID management which may involve assigning complex access permissions to various senior level team members, while one of the hurdles that a customer needs to overcome from time-to-time is resetting the password.
With an automated DAP, this process can be more easily managed through automation. For example, users can be automatically guided through logins, and in cases where additional authentication is required, a pop up can indicate that a further authentication may need to be set up by downloading an authenticator app or that the system has sent an automatic text message or email with confirmation codes and next steps.
Similar processes can be implemented for setting or resetting passwords where DAPs can help users to ensure that they meet security requirements and are as secure as possible.
Making the login experience run smoothly at every step can set the tone for the overall user experience, which can have a huge influence on customer engagement and brand loyalty.
- Real-time, personalised guidance
Precious time can be lost while wading through irrelevant help content on banking apps or online insurance portals, and can lead to customers feeling frustrated. Automated in-app guidance can help to cut through the noise, pointing users in the right direction and get them the help, in real time, that they’re looking for, when they’re looking for it.
In addition, DAPs can help pinpoint particular sticking points where employees or customers struggle to use applications, or where they have difficulties completing certain processes. With this information to hand, financial services can not only work to resolve any issues, but also ensure that when users are logged into the system, they are guided step-by-step through the tricky processes using an automated walkthrough. In addition, DAPs can guide people to use self-help, pointing them in the direction of the FAQ page, or watching self-help video content.
These guides can also be tailored specifically to each user, depending on where they need extra support – further improving the customer experience.
- Improved customer experience
At the heart of every customer request is the need to resolve a specific issue and recognising that is the best way to satisfy them. There’s a variety of personas that may need help from their bank and also their requests may vary depending on the size of business they are from or their position within the organisation. To complicate the scenario even further, some customers may have a hard time communicating their needs and what type of solution they are interested in.
According to research by Zendesk, more than half of customers will avoid a business if they had a negative customer service experience, while nearly 40% won’t return to the brand for up to two years. The top reason for this dissatisfaction is long handling times.
The biggest reason why customer queries drag on is that they can’t find a way around their challenges. Forrester Research reports that the use of self-help or FAQs increased from 67% to 81% over three years. This suggests that customers often prefer not to call in, if they can help it. A good number of your customers and prospects will try to find an answer to their questions using online help documentation, FAQs, or any product content available.
Combining self-help and DAP guidance to navigate through online banking websites will decrease the overall time and volume of customer queries, and set the organisation up towards providing efficient and effective customer support.
Conclusion
Automation is already beginning to re-shape financial services. Using automated DAPs to enable customers to navigate the digital financial space provides much more than simply the quick help they’re after – it boosts satisfaction, brand loyalty and the bottom line.
