From Customer Churn to Customer Advocacy

Customer Communication Management | Garima Rai

Going by the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study the overall satisfaction of retail banking customers has decreased for a fourth consecutive year, to 748 on 1,000-point scale. The research has drawn a direct correlation between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. As the US retail banking industry struggles to adjust to the changes in the global financial and economic environment, the focus on customer loyalty to protect revenue and ensure the continuation of the most important customer relationships is of utmost importance to banks. Increased customer awareness about financial products, demand for better customer experience and growing customer attrition mean banks have much to lose if they fail to align their communication strategies with customer expectations and focus on retaining existing relationships.

The study has further identified 12 core Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) of customer satisfaction that focus on three key objectives: managing customer expectations; effective customer communications; and providing convenient and flexible service.

Capturing customer interest on various promotions for lead generation can be a daunting task if you don’t have an efficient communication strategy in place. Effective customer communication has the potential not only to enable banks realize customer loyalty but to deliver customer advocacy by making the best use of myriad customer touch points as marketing opportunities.

With formidable competition to fulfill customer demands, banks must take radical steps to maximize the use of various communication tools. Transaction documents should be treated like personalized marketing collaterals targeting the right offer to the right customer on the basis of analysis of transaction.  For instance, a bank account statement may include details of an investment option or a credit card statement may be personalized with invitation to open a new bank account. Or if a customer uses his credit card/bank account to make utility bill payments you may introduce him to automatic utility bill payment service. When looking at managing cross channel communication between a business entity and its customers, an interactive customer communication management system is an intelligent proposition to bank on.