3 Ways to Speed Digital Transformation for Financial Services
The race to digital is on for the financial services and insurance (FSI) industry. With digitally- focused competitors entering the market, changing customer expectations, technological disruptions and demographic shifts, FSI organizations must bring a range of digital tools to market that let consumers take more control of their financial health. And they must do so with increased velocity.
The pandemic has only exacerbated these trends. According to Adobe’s 2021 Digital Trends: Financial Service and Insurance in Focus, 52% of FSI organizations are seeing unusual growth in digital and mobile visitors and 51% are seeing unusual changes in the customer journey. Currently, 37% of FSI organizations indicate that digital and mobile account for at least, if not more than, 50% of their sales.
Demographics and customer expectations are also transforming financial services. Historically, consumers have rarely switched their financial accounts — a Bankrate survey showed people held the same checking account for an average of 14 years — this too is changing. Now, 37% of consumers say they are more likely to switch than in the past.
Unfortunately, getting ahead of these trends by offering fully digitized customer experiences isn’t easy. Inadequate legacy systems, workflow issues, lack of innovation and gaps in digital skills are all standing in the way.
Here’s a look at how FSI organizations can overcome these challenges and begin to deliver meaningful customer experiences.
1. Upgrade Legacy Systems
Legacy systems are the most significant hurdle for FSI organizations that want to advance their customer experience efforts. In fact, in Adobe’s 2021 Digital Trends report, 61% of retail banks said they struggled with legacy issues.
FSI organizations must gain deeper insight into the customer journey and then execute on these insights with dynamic real-time cross-channel experiences to achieve their digital transformation goals. This requires an investment in a modern content delivery framework that can speed both the creation and delivery of creative content. Adobe Experience Manager, for example, makes it quick to update product pages at scale. This saves the marketing organization hours every day. And getting updates to the market faster also improves the site experience for the customer, such as making it easier for them to apply for a loan or sign up for automated bill pay.
2. Integrate Solution Platforms
Data is a core component of being able to deliver meaningful customer experiences. Yet, most FSI organizations have numerous data silos. Over a quarter (28%) say they use multiple technologies and vendors for marketing data, according to the 2021 Digital Trends report. Many marketing teams are also overlooking how to integrate data from offline experiences. Only 38% of FSI organizations have records from offline interactions such as call centers or branches.
To achieve omnichannel personalization and a truly integrated marketing environment, organizations need to create a unified customer profile that includes both online and offline real-time customer interactions. Having all this data connected will allow marketing to deliver tailored experiences both online and through in-person interactions. For example, banks could deliver highly targeted messages to customers when they log into their computers or when they use their local branch’s ATM.
3. Focus on the Employee Experience
It might seem counterintuitive at first glance, but to deliver meaningful customer experiences, FSI organizations must first focus on the employee experience. By enabling employees with the right processes and tools, they can quickly bring digital products to market.
Currently, 44% of FSI firms report workflow issues as a key barrier to improving the customer experience. Standardizing work and workflows across the marketing organization with a solution like Adobe Workfront can eliminate a lot of the chaos and rework that plagues most marketing teams. Workflows like the project requests, review and approval processes or digital asset delivery can all be improved or automated. A work management solution can also help marketing teams meet compliance goals to ensure brand, legal and regulatory requirements are met swiftly and consistently.
Bringing It All Together
Marketing teams need all work connected and integrated to deliver new financial digital tools to market quickly. Adobe Experience Cloud integrates with Adobe Workfront to allow a cross-system connection between analytics, content management, content delivery, and work management. Marketing teams can get more done with less time and deliver the types of meaningful customer experiences that will build customer loyalty and retention.
About LeapPoint
LeapPoint Consulting is changing the way companies connect work, technology, and talent to solve big business challenges and drive successful outcomes. Established by Big 4 alumni who sought more flexibility and agility in meeting clients’ most critical business needs, LeapPoint is committed to making life and experiences fundamentally better for employees, customers and those they serve. As the go-to Adobe and Adobe Workfront partner in financial services, healthcare and retail, LeapPoint’s break-through Connected WorkTM services are the essential framework for the Future of Work. To learn more about LeapPoint and its Connected Work services, visit www.leappoint.com.
