# The dichotomy of personalisation for commoditised sales Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2018-03-29 Category: FINANCE Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/finance Meta Title: Maximising Customer Experience in Financial Services Meta Description: Discover how Vizolution CEO, Bill Safran, discusses the importance of customer experience in differentiating financial services providers and retaining URL: https://financedigest.com/the-dichotomy-of-personalisation-for-commoditised-saleshtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/fd290318-10-1736842882330-compressed.jpg) **Bill Safran, CEO,** [Vizolution](http://www.vizolution.co.uk/) In saturated markets such as financial services, products have become increasingly commoditised, with little perceived differentiation amongst consumers. With resulting price competition squeezing margins, financial services providers have looked to cost reduction to protect margins. Remote channels have offered a way to deliver services at a reduced cost, lessening the need for branches, face-to-face contact, and the high overheads associated with them. ![Bill Safran](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/bill-safran-1736842882322-compressed.jpg) Bill Safran Whilst this is no doubt good news for some customer service scenarios, where a personalised service is an overkill, for other types of customer service where the complexity is higher, there is also the chance that [financial services providers are moving further away from their customers at the very time they should be keeping them close](https://www.financedigest.com/fast-track-financial-close.html "FAST-TRACK FINANCIAL CLOSE"). At a time when consumers [see little](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-weary-investors-see-little-respite-to-fed-hike-gloom.html "Analysis-Weary investors see little respite to Fed hike gloom") differentiation in products, and margins offer little room for price competition, customer experience is offering a solution that allows organisations to break out of the cycle. Of course, this is not a revelation – [Gartner discovered](http://blogs.gartner.com/jake-sorofman/gartner-surveys-confirm-customer-experience-new-battlefield/) in 2014 that 89% of businesses were soon expected to compete mainly on customer experience. Three years on, what we now know is that organisations that have [adopted a customer experience strategy](https://www.financedigest.com/bev-automotive-oil-filter-market-recent-industry-developments-and-growth-strategies-adopted-by-players.html "BEV Automotive Oil Filter Market: Recent Industry Developments and Growth Strategies Adopted by Players") as their point of differentiation have seen a positive impact on retention, cross sell and upsell – all factors essential to the health of any business. In fact, [according to one survey](https://www.callcentrehelper.com/link-customer-experience-and-profitability-109158.htm), if provided with a good service, 68% of customers would be more loyal, 34% would use the company more frequently and 30% would spend more money. So how do we decide where personalisation is relevant and worthwhile? **No cookie cutter CX** Of course, not all journeys have to be personalised– the quick request of checking a [bank balance can be fulfilled in the same way for almost all customers](https://www.financedigest.com/canadian-banks-fighting-brokers-back-for-customers.html "Canadian Banks Fighting Brokers Back For Customers"). However, as a general rule, the more complex or emotional a [customer journey](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-navigate-a-seamless-journey-from-cio-to-chief-customer-officer.html "How to navigate a seamless journey from CIO to Chief Customer Officer") is, the greater the level of personalisation needed. A [mortgage application](https://www.financedigest.com/things-mortgage-lender-takes-into-account-when-processing-an-application.html "Things Mortgage Lender Takes Into Account When Processing an Application") is a good example of a journey requiring personalisation. Here, customers are making one of the biggest purchases of their life, and the [process is a complex one with lots of product](https://www.financedigest.com/how-process-automation-increases-productivity-in-the-insurance-sector-while-giving-employees-room-for-more-high-value-activity.html "How Process Automation increases productivity in the insurance sector while giving employees room for more high value activity") options, compliance requirements and documentation. A one-size-fits-all approach would not reassure customers that the organisation has understood their individual needs and offered the best advice based on their circumstances. **The power of omni-channel** Gone are the days of banks [creating processes](https://www.financedigest.com/growth-of-mineral-processing-and-mining-industrie-is-creating-demand-for-rotary-trommel-market.html "Growth Of Mineral Processing And Mining Industrie Is Creating Demand For Rotary Trommel Market") and customer journeys around their legacy systems. Today’s customers want to choose the channel they deem most appropriate for their enquiry, and will resent being forced down the routes that serve the provider’s capabilities, preferences or legacy systems. Crucially, Deloitte estimates that 60% of customer journeys today meander between multiple channels.This might be because customers have a question that cannot be answered in the first channel, because they have encountered a difficulty and need assistance, or perhaps even that the first interaction has generated a more complex inquiry, for example, a discrepancy in a [bank statement](https://www.financedigest.com/bank-of-england-statement-on-purchase-of-long-dated-bonds.html "Bank of England statement on purchase of long-dated bonds"). Customers need the flexibility to move channels if the journey demands it. Enabling customers to not only choose their starting point, but to also switch channels in as frictionless a way as possible is [crucial to the customer](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") experience. This customer-driven approach that focuses on end-to-end customer’s journeys gives customers the ability to design their own journey. **Failed customer journeys** [Digital transformation](https://www.financedigest.com/the-four-benefits-of-digital-transformation-in-the-finance-industry.html "The Four Benefits of Digital Transformation in the Finance Industry") is understandably a focus for financial services providers. Many will have a 100% self-serve target, but there will always be exceptions in the journey where customers will fall through the gaps. In the case of credit checks in a loan application, most [customers will be perfectly well](https://www.financedigest.com/why-late-payments-are-hurting-your-customer-as-well-as-your-business.html "Why late payments are hurting your customer, as well as your business") catered for by self-service, but there will always be a percentage who don’t fit the typical customer mould and therefore left unable to proceed down the self-serve route. Without more personalised and high-touch support, these [customers inevitably walk](https://www.financedigest.com/walk-in-coolers-and-freezers-market-preference-for-customized-and-smart-machines-growing.html "Walk-in Coolers and Freezers Market: Preference for Customized and Smart Machines Growing") away from the transaction. An organisation therefore has a choice – write off this percentage of failed customer journeys as lost customers, or actively put in place a selection of higher-touch personalised journeys that [pull them back](https://www.financedigest.com/generali-pulls-back-from-russia-intesa-reviews-business.html "Generali pulls back from Russia, Intesa reviews business") on track and ultimately convert them into customers. By analysing customer journeys on a granular level, financial services providers can identify where they are failing, where gaps are appearing and give themselves the option of addressing them. By doing so, providers can begin to offer an increasingly flexible omni-channel [strategy and a more personalised service to more customers](https://www.financedigest.com/why-equipment-assets-should-be-the-source-of-your-customer-strategy.html "Why Equipment Assets Should Be The Source of Your Customer Strategy"), no matter how they may choose to interact with you. **Costs needn’t be costly** On the face of it, delivering a personalised [service may seem like a costly](https://www.financedigest.com/is-ai-taking-quality-and-cost-optimization-of-enterprise-services-to-the-next-level.html "Is AI taking quality and cost optimization of enterprise services to the next level?") exercise, but delve deeper into the metrics and a different and sometimes surprising picture emerges. Take the example of the failed loan application. By [creating a digital](https://www.financedigest.com/carta-teams-up-with-vauban-to-launch-the-first-digital-solution-aimed-at-venture-capital-investors-creating-luxembourg-based-funds.html "Carta teams up with Vauban to launch the first digital solution aimed at venture capital investors creating Luxembourg-based funds") loans journey, a provider can make considerable cost savings.However, if 20% of [customers fail the digital](https://www.financedigest.com/the-cervical-total-disc-replacement-market-to-grow-based-on-customized-digitization.html "The Cervical Total Disc Replacement Market to grow based on customized digitization") journeys, then the cost of losing those 20% of customers may well surpass the cost saving. In other words, it is advisable to look at the cost of not doing something versus the cost of doing it. **The most frictionless journey will win** [Operating in a commoditised market is difficult and driving down costs is an obvious way to deal with squeezed margins](https://www.financedigest.com/catering-group-sodexo-targets-operating-margin-above-6-in-2025.html "Catering group Sodexo targets operating margin above 6% in 2025"). The good news for businesses is that technology can make it possible to deliver a [higher level](https://www.financedigest.com/u-s-dollar-drifts-higher-yen-heads-toward-level-that-prompted-intervention.html "U.S. dollar drifts higher; yen heads toward level that prompted intervention") of personalisation without the high costs normally associated with a one-to-one service. Whether it is delivering real-time behavioural data on a particular customer, augmenting a remote customer interaction by showing and sharing documents on a screen, or implementing [artificial intelligence](https://www.financedigest.com/types-of-artificial-intelligence.html "artificial intelligence"), technology is constantly being used to deliver a superior customer service at a sustainable cost. Making the customer [experience personal](https://www.financedigest.com/personalizing-the-workforce-experience-in-financial-services.html "Personalizing the Workforce Experience in Financial Services") is more than possible, regardless of whether the product is similar or identical. Crucially, providers must focus on servicing the customer’s journey preferences – predictable or otherwise – rather than insisting on their movement through a set of process that suits the [providers’ infrastructure](https://www.financedigest.com/are-banks-destined-to-merely-become-infrastructure-providers-in-the-banking-industry-of-the-future.html "Are banks destined to merely become infrastructure providers in the banking industry of the future?"). This way, personalisation will be delivered quickly, experiences will improve, and the industry-wide churn will become something to only benefit from, rather than be victim to. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---