Stay-at-home orders have helped to accelerate digital transformation projects within the finance sector – but they have also radically changed the way we physically work. For automated, back-office operations this isn’t a problem. And thanks to remote connectivity, banks and finance houses are still able to provide some level of customer support.
But as noted previously, customers are losing patience with companies that are not steadily improving. This is particularly true given that the UK has already experienced three lockdowns; at this point, customers are justified in expecting to receive more responsive, effective services.
Formalizing processes
Your customer-facing teams will already have a series of processes that help route customer queries to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes. Although these processes still exist in the distributed workplace, they are sometimes harder to follow – particularly if the workforce has been depleted through illness or general lack of availability.
In the face of ongoing uncertainty, it is important to formalize these processes, using customer service management technology to create workflows. Workflows offer several advantages when working remotely or in the office.
Most importantly, workflows keep customer interactions moving forward to resolution. By outlining the various steps of a process, employees are rarely in doubt about what to do next. Formalizing processes will also ensure a consistently good customer experience. This will increase their efficiency and reduce time to resolution – which is exactly what your clients want.
Automating processes
With processes defined and workflows built, you can then begin introducing automation. There are two clear benefits to automation: customer queries can be routed and addressed more efficiently, and you can reduce the amount of human intervention required to make it happen.
Automated workflows further strengthen your standardization efforts. And because there is less manual input, there is less chance of data-entry errors, raising the overall quality of the information you capture – critical to the success of data-driven operations.
Improving oversight
Research quoted by the Independent found that employees are spending an extra three hours working every day during the lockdown. While this is great news for the banks, there is the question of oversight – are workers being fully productive?
Properly configured, fully specified Customer Service Management tools provide a complete overview of the customer experience – and how your teams are dealing with clients. You can identify bottlenecks, over-and under-performing agents, and opportunities for process improvements for instance. These statistics are available at-a-glance, allowing you to quickly divert attention and resources to where they are most needed.
Leveraging the cloud
Improvements to the customer experience won’t wait for the end of the global pandemic – they need to be implemented as quickly as possible. Cloud-based technologies like ServiceNow CSM can accelerate deployment precisely because local installation is not required. They can also overcome many of the security concerns associated with remote working and data privacy.
Accelerating deployment of CSM provides your business with the tools to improve customer experiences now. And in the event that remote working becomes a standard aspect of your operations in future, you will already have the tools and processes in place to deliver a consistently high-quality service to customers.
To learn more about CSM in the finance sector and how Crossfuze can help you raise standards, please get in touch to arrange a short demo.
