A recent Forbes article by Roger Dooley on how a few financial institutions were able to emerge as the biggest mortgage lenders will blow your mind off. The article goes on to list some of the recent trends for the success of a bank.
While this Forbes article was published as recently as June 2020, Clootrack had analyzed the category adoption factors for Banks about a year back, around June 2019. The factors were listed based on consumer insights derived from thousands of social media conversations.
And you will be awestruck with the amount of perfection with which Clootrack had predicted the key drivers!!
Let’s analyze the top 3 highlights in the Forbes article.
1. The first key factor – the simple process
Banks that adopted ‘simple’ processes have gone ahead to become the highest volume mortgage lender. As quoted in the article, “Quicken’s Rocket Mortgage operation took a complex, intimidating process and made it easy.”
2. The second factor – Technology
Banks that have adopted technology have gone a long way in creating a great experience. They quote two great examples:
Rocket Mortgage uses the slogan, “Push button. Get Mortgage.” They claim a consumer can get approved in as little as eight minutes.
Quicken Loans introduced online applications early in its history by having mobile app that let customers apply for a mortgage on their phone.
3. The third key factor – An Easy Customer Experience
Customers want to experience easy and hassle-free processes. They want to find their way through the forms and lengthy process with minimum effort. As per the research, Barclays and Lloyds were able to turn over active accounts in just 2-3 days.
Clootrack Insights on Banks
Now let’s shift our focus to Clootrack insights that were generated one year back (around June 2019) for clients of Clootrack. The insights were generated based on customer conversations of several banks to understand the key adoption drivers.
The adoption drivers so well match with the Forbes article!!
Clootrack analyzed the loan category of several banks, and the most important drivers emerged as the ‘processing time and procedure’ and ‘documentation’. Both these drivers show how consumers look forward to a simple and easy loan process.
One of the customers said, “Application process needs to be improved, and taking a long time to process and delivery.”
Customers want something that is easy and quick. They do not want to go through a long and tedious process of applying for loans and waiting for approval of loans.
As you can see in the below report generated by Clootrack, most of the customers prefer a bank that makes their life easier by reducing the processing time. The sub-topics generated show clearly that customers want their loans to be processed within a day. Consumers are put off when the bank has cumbersome procedures and is long-winded.
Clootrack had also analyzed the new account and credit card category. The top drivers emerged as the ‘account opening’, ‘Banking experience’ and ‘Online Services.’
These drivers were established a year ago in June 2019 by Clootrack. The online conversations of millions of customers were analyzed to arrive at consumer insights that show clearly what customers expect from a bank.
Account Opening
Account opening is the first contact from a potential customer towards a bank, and it is one of the key adoption drivers.
A customer who wants to open a bank account expects the process to be smooth and simple. But when it is difficult to even start a relationship with a bank, the customer can get diverted to other competitors.
“I wanted to open a bank account in a branch and I have full papers. Although I have a letter from a foreign sponsor, still I am not able to open an account” says a dissatisfied consumer.
The subtopics listed down by Clootrack show clearly the expectations of customers. A bank that can offer an easy process and fast service for opening accounts stands tall in front of its competitors.
Banking Experience
Customer Experience matters heavily in banking more than ever in this age. The customer data analyzed from our clients reveal an urgent need for banks to start delivering exceptional experiences. More customers are putting customer experience on top of their list.
The sub-topics generated from the customer conversations clearly show that people are expecting professional service and have enough staff who can help them during their banking activities.
Some of the conversations highlight poor customer experience.
“Unfortunately, a very bad bank and staff. Advice not to deal with this bank.”
“Very bad bank does not deal with the customer properly”
Banks need to listen and understand customer needs with goal to personalize their experience. A compelling experience no doubt leaves a positive impression and encourages the customer to come back again.
We can see how elated a customer becomes when he receives a great customer experience.
“This is a very helpful and easy service to open a new account without any trouble. It is very simple and easy to fix an appointment, and the bank executor will find you where you want. Great experience. Thank you, and all my friends will go fast to open account”.
Great customer experience can not just help to retain and build loyal customers, it also is a great promotion tool to get more customers.
Online Services
Customers have shown their preference for Net banking and mobile banking as they feel they can make use of the banking services easily and without going to the banks. Many have expressed that it is easier to transact online using mobile apps.
The sub-topics generated for the online services state that customers are looking for the best services that are simple and flexible.
One customer says, “The best thing is that you have given the facility to open the account online.”
We can see that customers are happy to have control over their banking activities. They want to transfer money online, pay bills, set up easy standing instructions, monitor bank balances, and much more.
Whereas when a bank is not upgraded and is not offering online services, customers do get disappointed.
“Bad banking services for individuals and cooperates. Not to mention the worst bank app. No new features have been implemented such as apple pay or face Id etc. . . The bottom line stay away from this bank”
The key here is that customers want net banking and mobile banking as it empowers them to take care of all their financial tasks and saves a lot of time.
Wrapping it up…..
Banks have started to use consumer data to analyze and predict consumer expectations. Consumer insights derived from consumer data is being used in banks to improve customer experience and to innovate products.
Traditional digital strategies took a lot of time – running into weeks and months. But now the scenario is different, businesses need to scale their marketing initiatives in a matter of days, and quickly understand what is working.
As per McKinsey survey of 1,500 executives, “the best-performing companies had already been moving faster across a range of activities to help them learn faster.” Companies need to quickly adapt and change rapidly during crisis times—and beyond.
For more detailed information on consumer insights, please reach out to us at contactus@clootrack.com.