Pub. 10 2020-2021 Issue 4

O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S — H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S November • December 2020 13 How Customer Journey Mapping for Banks Leads to New Accounts BY STEVE KENT D igital banking is rapidlybecoming the main channel through which many customers interact with their financial institutions. While this shift to an online presence creates unique outreach opportunities for banks, success requires both innovation and a strategic mindset. After all, with more customer touchpoints and an increase of competitors and industry disruptors, customer satisfaction at every stage of onboarding is essential. For many financial institutions, digi - tal transformation and data analytics to improve their digital experience remain uncharted waters. They wonder where to begin to generate data-driven strat- egies to deliver positive customer expe- riences and, thereby facilitate seamless account opening. That’s where customer journey map - ping for banks comes into play. The Benefits of Customer Journey Mapping for Banks Customer journey maps are business intelligence tools that help you visualize each interaction between your institution and your prospects or customers. The digital onboarding journey is broader than merely applying for and funding an account through a mobile app. It begins with the prospect’s initial interest and new account research. The journey con - tinues until that customer has funded an account and enrolled in value-added ser- vices such as direct deposit, eStatements and bill pay. With customer goals in mind, each step of the journey is tracked. From ad campaigns and website access to account funding, you can better quantify how fre - quently customers successfully advance to the next step of the journey. From there, your institution can identify points that drive the highest traffic and leaks — steps in the journey that are causing cus - tomers to abandon the process. In practice, this translates to mea- sured results that guide institutions to repair or replace interactions that cause potential customers to diverge from their goal or look elsewhere. Applying small changes in the customer journey can im - prove customer satisfaction and signifi - cantly impact account opening success. Here’s how you can use customer journey maps to benefit your institution: Gain Insight into Customer Needs First and foremost, customer jour - ney mapping helps your bank better un - derstand customer pain points and im- prove overall satisfaction. Optimizing a new account opening is not just a point- in-time exercise. Instead, it requires constant improvement and monitoring to show gaps between the desired cus- tomer experience and the one received. To understand that desired expe- rience, it’s helpful to identify what the prospect in question needs to complete a purchase. Customer journey mapping makes that insight available by quanti - fying, which steps in the process cause customer friction and which ones drive higher traffic. Pinpoint Development Opportunities By illuminating several areas, in - cluding customers’ initial awareness, the reason for looking, barriers considered, options available, sales interactions and overall satisfaction, your institution can more confidently determine development priorities. Specifically, you can pinpoint bottlenecks in the journey and modify them accordingly. For instance, if there’s a trend in potential customers abandon- ing an account application after access- ing a webpage, you gain a better idea that the offering or page itself is not a compel - ling one. Emphasize Successful Drivers to Account Opening On the other hand, customer journey mapping also illustrates the most effec - tive traffic drivers that ultimately lead to new account opening. As many banking channels have digitized, the number of access points with your institution has increased. A journey map illustrates where customers interact with your insti - tution and how they access those touch - points. In other words, you can see what has been successful, whether customers have sought you out via search engine, accessed your institution through social media or clicked on an ad. Customer Journey Mapping Enhances Your Bank’s Marketing With exact figures for customers who accessed ads and ultimately opened an account, your institution gains a clearer view of which ads attract more custom- ers. Ultimately, the goal is to embrace those assets and sequences that best in - fluence revenue and improve those that fall short. If a Facebook campaign drives movement, you know to emulate that strategy in the future. With marketing insight, you can concentrate your efforts and expenditures on what matters most, rather than on less effective campaigns. On the Path to Customer Satisfaction Customer journey mapping is an es - sential tool to provide customers the ex- perience they expect and transform your bank digitally. Financial institutions have a lot to consider when providing for their customers, but a data-driven perspective can make the difference between a new account and a missed opportunity. Im - proving digital banking solutions is an ongoing process, so take a look at this informative webinar to learn more about customer journey mapping and optimiz - ing the overall customer experience. n Steve Kent is senior director, Digital Strategy, at CSI.