Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business. You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)

Australian FSI brands struggle to differentiate CX quality

Communication and customer service are critical factors

Forrester surveyed the customers of five banks - ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Suncorp, and Westpac - to determine how they perceive their experiences with these banks and identify the key CX attributes that drive loyalty.

Three of the "big four" banks - CommBank, NAB, and Westpac - sit within just over 2percentage points of each other. Australian banks have been quick to adapt their CX in response to the pandemic, but it was not enough to move the needle beyond just meeting customer expectations.

Scores of all seven brands included in the superannuation industry - AMP, AustralianSuper, BT Financial, Colonial First State, MLC Australia, REST, and Sunsuper - fall within a range of just 6percentage points. In contrast to the banking industry, the superannuation firms improved their industry average by 1.3percentage points amid COVID-19, during which they experienced rapid regulatory changes that allowed customers A$15 billion in early fund releases.

Forrester's CX Index data consistently shows that ensuring emotionally positive experiences boosts customer loyalty. Across all industries, how an experience makes customers feel has greater influence on their loyalty to a brand than the effectiveness or ease of their experiences.

In the Australian banking industry, for example, among customers who felt valued, 78% will advocate for the bank, 75% plan to spend more with the bank, and 66% plan to stay with the bank. In contrast, making customers feel annoyed and frustrated is most harmful to brand loyalty. Out of the superannuation customers who feel frustrated, just 11% will advocate for the brand, 18% say they will stay with the brand, and only 16% plan to spend more with their provider.

"While digital interactions have risen in importance because of the pandemic shutdowns, our data indicates that in-person interactions still evoked the most positive emotions for both banking and superannuation customers," said Riccardo Pasto, senior analyst at Forrester. "When designing their customer journeys, financial services firms must prioritise a balanced experience with a hybrid approach of human interaction enabled by digital channels. Building emotional connections through digital experiences is key to improving CX and differentiating from your competitors."

Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business.

You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy. Grab this goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, technologies, research, suppliers and partners, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid CX strategy.

While most marketers could list maybe a dozen key points for improving their brand's Customer Experience (CX), the researchers and writers at The Marketing Factbook have identified FORTY main 'CX Keys' which will help you drive your customers to new levels of delight, loyalty, advocacy and profitability.

The areas in which customers have direct contact with your organization are perhaps the most obvious places in which CX improvements can be made, and this report addresses all 24 of these 'Direct CX Keys', applicable to offline and online businesses alike.

At the same time there are many other areas that indirectly affect CX (such as the supply chain, policies and processes) in which every business can make simple but far-reaching improvements. This report guides you through the problems and solutions for all 16 of these 'Indirect CX Keys', many of which are often forgotten or under-played even in the best CX strategies.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)