How to Become a Customer-Centric Financial Institution

According to a survey, about 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a more quality customer experience. This shows that customer experience remains a top priority for businesses as the majority of customers value it even above product and pricing.

Customers play a vital role in the success of businesses, so it is a priority for businesses to always keep their customers satisfied. Being customer-centric or providing a good customer experience is a way to ensure profits and growth for your bank. Positive feedback from satisfied customers can help attract new customers and ultimately grow your business. In the same vein, customer frustration can lead to losses for your bank. If users cannot use your bank to solve their problems in a more convenient and seamless way, they might be discouraged from using your products or services.

What Is a Customer-Centric Approach?

A customer-centric approach is primarily about putting your customer first. It ensures that the client is at the center of your business strategy in order to effectively build long-term relationships and customer experience.

Customer-centricity is a business approach that prioritizes the needs and preferences of customers or users when strategizing decisions about your products and services. A bank that uses a customer-centric approach will identify the needs of its customers and design products and services tailored to meet such needs. Customer-centricity has immense potential to drive growth and profitability in businesses.

So, then, how do you ensure that your bank is customer-centric?

Three Ways to Be More Customer-Centric

1. Customer-friendly technology

Digitalization is an important part of banking in this day and age. Digital channels make interacting with your bank easier and more convenient for your customers, as they do not have to visit a physical branch to access financial services. By digitalizing your services and making them easy and accessible to customers, you’re ensuring that your bank is customer-friendly.

2. Efficiently using customer data

Banks have a lot of customer data and feedback from the numerous transactions that are carried out. As a customer-centric bank, don’t just let this data exist without use, leverage it. Frequently assess the data and feedback you get from customers for how it can be used to further improve the banking experience for them. This could be launching new features, upgrading existing services, changing marketing style, etc.

Customers appreciate it when it seems like you hear their thoughts. More so, ensure that the data transfers across your company freely so each member of the team is in sync and understands the processes. To learn more on how to utilize customer data, read this article.

3. Customer-focused strategies

This is a strategy style that places the needs and wants of the customer at the epicenter of all the bank’s decisions and actions. It means putting the customer first in every aspect of the business, from product development to customer service, and even marketing. To ensure that customer-centricity is at the core of your strategies, you need to have a deep understanding of your target audience and learn that your success depends on your customers’ satisfaction.

Four Reasons to be Customer-Centric

There are a lot of reasons to prioritize customers in your business or bank. Some reasons include:

1. Increased profit

Customers will use your products and services more if you are customer centric. They will be willing to transact more with your bank for the sake of getting a better experience and this can directly impact profits.

2. Enhanced customer retention

Customer centricity contributes to enhanced customer experience, which in turn enhances customer retention. You get more people supporting your business, more clients coming back to work with you again, and a more loyal customer base overall.

3. Lowers marketing expense

Customer-centricity makes it easier to retain existing customers as they’re already satisfied with your products and services. Also, positive reviews from customers can attract new customers to your bank. After all, no marketing is as effective as a good review.

4. Accelerate growth

Going with a customer-centric approach compels more attention towards your products as customers use them with more satisfaction. People will most likely spread the word about products that they enjoy using and this enhances your visibility and growth.

According to Deloitte, companies that focus on being customer-centric are 60% more profitable than companies not focused on their customers. This emphasises its importance in businesses generally.

The future of banking is customer-centric. Customers increasingly expect simplicity and speed in performing transactions, regardless of where and on what platform they do so. They must be guaranteed to have the same experience whether they are in the branch or using the bank's website or mobile app remotely and dealing with workers who may be working in-branch or remotely.

To begin your journey of being a customer-centric bank, reach out to Woodcore. We have extensive experience helping banks create customer-centric digital products that prioritize customer needs at every turn and drive revenue growth at scale.