# Applying CX intelligence to reduce channel switching Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2019-06-08 Category: FINANCE Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/finance Meta Title: The Future of Customer Communication in Banking and Insurance Meta Description: Discover the importance of understanding customer channel preferences and related transactions in the banking and insurance industry to optimise customer URL: https://financedigest.com/applying-cx-intelligence-to-reduce-channel-switchinghtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/switching-1736839035866-compressed.jpg) By **Fabrice Martin,** Chief Product Officer **,** [**Clarabridge**](http://www.clarabridge.com) Today’s banking or insurance customer wants to communicate via their channel of choice, and more often than not, these channels are digital. Inevitably, when a customer starts a transaction online or via a mobile app, they want to be able to complete their transaction within that channel. However, for many reasons they are unable to do so and are forced to contact the bank or insurance company using the phone or by moving onto live chat for further assistance. This can be perplexing, and frustrating, for financial service [institutions](https://www.financedigest.com/visa-launches-crypto-advisory-service-for-financial-institutions-merchants.html "Visa launches crypto advisory service for financial institutions, merchants") that have invested heavily in digitising customer services to improve efficiency. They are all too aware that the cost per [digital customer interaction can be up to 12 times cheaper than when they engage via a phone](https://www.financedigest.com/snap-happy-79-of-brits-ditch-digital-cameras-in-favour-of-phone-photos.html "Snap Happy: 79% of Brits ditch digital cameras in favour of phone photos") call. We often hear comments like “I don’t know why we get so many calls to our contact centre relating to balance enquiries when our customers can easily check online or via our [mobile](https://www.financedigest.com/the-growth-of-mobile-fintech-and-the-impact-for-mobile-app-marketers.html "The growth of mobile fintech and the impact for mobile app marketers") app.” What we find when we look more closely is that these enquiries are often more complicated than a simple balance request. There is often another related query that complicates the issue and causes a channel switch. We know from a survey that we recently carried out in the UK that more than half (58.3%) of [banking customers](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-banks-told-to-reimburse-customers-tricked-by-scams.html "UK banks told to reimburse customers tricked by scams") are comfortable carrying out their transactions without speaking to a human being at all. However, there was a proviso, because 60.2% admitted that they would prefer a [call if they wanted to discuss more complex issues](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-issues-call-to-arms-for-omicron-booster-drive.html "UK issues call to arms for Omicron booster drive") such as loans, mortgages or financial planning; and over a third (33.7%) also said that a call would be necessary if they wanted to double-check something. For financial organisations that are thinking about how they can [automate more customer](https://www.financedigest.com/why-no-code-beats-custom-software-and-turnkey-solutions-for-business-automation.html "Why no-code beats custom software and turnkey solutions for business automation") interactions, it is important to understand the co-occurrence of related events to the main transaction. It would be short-sighted to design a [digital solution](https://www.financedigest.com/bny-mellons-new-solution-leads-the-digital-bill-pay-revolution.html "BNY Mellon’s New Solution Leads the Digital Bill-Pay Revolution") that can serve only the most basic requirements and far better to support the more complicated scenarios that may result in channel switching. It is not that customers like to switch channels. Life presents circumstances that necessitate a change and it is crucial to be aware of this. Imagine, for example, that a customer initiates a transaction using their mobile [banking app](https://www.financedigest.com/why-pay-by-bank-app-will-come-into-its-own-in-2022.html "Why Pay by Bank App will come into its own in 2022 "). However, to complete the transaction, documents [need to be sent securely](https://www.financedigest.com/the-three-must-haves-of-cyber-security-that-you-need-to-stay-cyber-safe.html "The three “must haves” of cyber security that you need to stay cyber safe") and this cannot be done through the app.  Or, a [customer contacts their insurance company using live chat but the issue becomes more complex and this requires an in-person communication](https://www.financedigest.com/a-ccm-platform-is-crucial-to-your-customer-communication-plans-heres-why.html "A CCM platform is crucial to your customer communication plans: here’s why") so it moves onto a phone call with a contact centre agent. Customers are open to the use of different channels, as long as these can fully [support their needs](https://www.financedigest.com/hung-out-to-dry-smes-need-further-support-to-stay-afloat.html "Hung Out to Dry: SMEs need further support to stay afloat"). Indeed, the benefits of digital transformation in the financial services industries are widely acknowledged, with 45% of [customers saying](https://www.financedigest.com/sports-and-athletic-insole-market-players-eye-custom-and-3-d-printed-products-for-performance-optimization-says-future-market-insights.html "Sports and Athletic Insole Market Players Eye Custom and 3-D Printed Products for Performance Optimization, Says Future Market Insights") that mobile or online banking is quicker.But there is a lingering attachment to traditional channels. Despite such a large number of customers being happy to carry out their transactions without speaking to anyone at all, when we asked how they resolve quick queries with the minimum effort, the majority, 37%, prefer to do this over the phone and surprisingly, 34.9% still like to go into a branch. We are in a transition period and although it’s best for the customer and the company to use one channel, this is not always feasible, or desirable. Financial services organisations, therefore, need to focus on making the switch between channels as seamless as possible and for the relevant and up-to-date [customer data](https://www.financedigest.com/why-now-is-the-time-for-banks-to-use-their-data-to-support-customers.html "Why now is the time for banks to use their data to support customers") to be instantly accessible, regardless of how customers choose to interact. One [technology that is experiencing consistently significant growth in financial services](https://www.financedigest.com/how-advanced-self-service-technologies-are-changing-the-face-of-finance.html "How Advanced Self-Service Technologies are Changing the Face of Finance") is the chatbot. It has become an easy and accessible way for customers to resolve known issues, or to collect [important information](https://www.financedigest.com/software-to-display-your-businesss-important-information.html "Software to Display Your Business’s Important Information") that facilitates a seamless transition to a contact centre agent. What banks and [insurance companies are finding is that introducing a virtual assistant for customer service can improve](https://www.financedigest.com/how-artificial-intelligence-can-help-improvethe-customer-journey-in-insurance.html "How Artificial Intelligence can help improve the customer journey in Insurance") chat and phone service levels by 10-15%. To be most effective, chatbots should be trained with a view to improving the [customer’s experience](https://www.financedigest.com/customer-experience-creating-the-calm-in-the-chaos.html "Customer Experience: creating the calm in the chaos"). By programming them to understand customer “intent” during a live chat interaction or a phone call, an organisation can start identifying [opportunities for chatbot automation](https://www.financedigest.com/automated-weather-observing-system-market-segments-opportunity-growth-and-forecast-by-end-use-industry-2021-2031.html "Automated Weather Observing System Market Segments, Opportunity, Growth and Forecast by End-use Industry 2021-2031"). They can also [listen for the words that customers](https://www.financedigest.com/listen-care-share-ofwats-latest-report-on-the-water-industrys-handling-of-customers-during-the-pandemic.html "Listen, Care, Share: Ofwat’s latest report on the water industry’s handling of customers during the pandemic") use to express frustration and high effort while accomplishing a task. Once these linguistic patterns have been learned, the chatbots can then be trained to express empathy, and to route a frustrated customer to a contact centre agent with a skill set that specialises in the particular topic that is causing frustration. Channel switching is not [set to disappear overnight and customers will continue](https://www.financedigest.com/factbox-europes-travel-disruption-set-to-continue-as-summer-ends.html "Factbox-Europe’s travel disruption set to continue as summer ends") to select the channel that they interact with depending on how quickly, or how accurately, they can resolve their query. For the financial [services industry](https://www.financedigest.com/balancing-innovation-and-security-within-the-financial-services-industry.html "Balancing innovation and security within the financial services industry"), however, understanding from the data they are collecting why their customers move from channel to channel, and how best they can serve their needs at the first interaction, will, in time, reduce switching, and with it, their cost to serve. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---