Empathy in Modern Banking

We live in an era of great financial hardship for many people. A global cost of living crisis, rising energy and fuel prices, and continuing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic means that people have less money than they may have previously had access to.

This means that financial institutions need to be sensitive to the hardships customers may be going through right now and be more proactive when it comes to meeting their needs in this new landscape. Empathy is becoming an increasingly critical component in the banking business and will likely continue to grow in importance for some time.

Banks and other financial brands therefore need strategies to better judge the emotional state of customers and craft services which answer the questions and struggles they are likely to be facing.

Empathy

There is evidence for the power of empathy in banking as well. A 2021 study by Accenture discovered that, while only a third of banks were confident in their ability to accurately assess their customers’ emotional state regarding their finances, those that did saw revenue growth to the tune of 1.3%. The remaining two thirds saw revenues contract by an average of 0.6%.

In order to achieve true empathy, banks need to anticipate what their customers are thinking and feeling at the earliest possible moment – i.e., when they are first researching financial products or services to help them tackle a specific issue. The empathic bank is then able to adjust its communications to better engage with the customer taking their emotional state into account.

Digital tools can be of service in this endeavor. By gathering richer and more complete data from a customer’s activity, a banking brand can build models which leverage that information to perceive what a customer is thinking or feeling at that time. Do their search queries indicate they might be struggling to meet their everyday bills, for example? If so, can your bank help them and prevent them from needing to go to an expensive payday lender?

"It all starts at the zero moment of truth – when customers might be researching the services, products or advice they need to cope with a financial crisis or opportunity,” writes Accenture. "Our survey showed that banks that can anticipate the customer’s needs at this moment, and infuse humanity and personalization into their digital interactions, can forge stronger customer connections that build trust and drive growth.”

Contact Centers

One area of your banking operation which is best placed to provide an empathic experience for your customers is your contact centers. It is through these contact centers that the majority of human interaction for your brand occurs, and the greatest opportunity to forge genuine connections is found.

Investment which reduces call hold times and gets your customers talking to a real human being as soon as possible is just one small way you can make them feel like you actually care about their problems. This isn’t just a case of investing in more CSRs either. You can reduce wait times by investing in technology which more effectively manages call routing and other similar factors.

Once customers are speaking to a CSR, do not pass up on the opportunity to make a connection and train your people to provide an empathic experience. Many banks are offering a video-based contact center experience and reaping the additional benefits of face-to-face communication when it comes to establishing empathy.

This philosophy also extends into the branch experience. Small details such as offering customers a hot drink and giving them somewhere private to discuss their worries can go a long way to showing your brand cares about their circumstances beyond simply selling them a product. People want to feel like their bank is a partner in their lives, rather than another thing they need to worry about, and it’s on you to provide that experience.

"Many empathetic banking leaders are reinventing their branches as hubs where customers and community members can learn, network and connect in a comfortable and inspiring setting,” continues Accenture. "Instead of simply being a place for services and transactions, branches in strategic locations should become experience centers that offer friendly spaces for customer engagement, designed around the need for human interactions.”

Final Thoughts

Those old enough to remember the days when banks were centers of the community and the manager a local figurehead will note that all this seems remarkably familiar. As banking has moved farther away from those times, it feels something has been lost in the process.

If banks can become more caring and empathic to the needs of their customers, it will provide route to returning to the days when they were held in a higher regard by the communities they serve.

Empathy in modern banking is certain to be a hot topic at CXFS Connect 2022, taking place in December at the Marriott Hilton Head Resort & Spa.

Download the agenda for more information and insights.