Banking is now entirely customer-driven and meeting individual needs of said customers is the ticket to success. And customer relationship management or CRM system enables the one thing that all customers want – a service that feels like it was made just for them. This blog post focuses on benefits the banking industry can gain from a CRM.
Customer and banks
‘Customer is king’ – it is the incessant statement that has been uttered so many times before. Never has it been more important to build, nurture, and maintain a relationship with a customer than now, a modern age with ever-increasing competition. For banks, like so many other businesses, this relationship is multifaceted, being spread over customer service, marketing, and business development. Despite having a shared goal, competition often exists among these different departments and that leads to information loss, reduced productivity, and fewer collaboration efforts. All these are mitigated by one solution, which will merge all these divisions into one transcendent system-a CRM.
What Is It?
CRM is a system that manages every interaction that your business has with its customers, whether existing or potential. It’s built around the simple goal of improving the business relationships you have with your market. This certainly takes on more meaning in the service industry, of which banking is a part of. The system basically allows you to have a central location where your customer (current and probable) information is stored, together with possible sales opportunities, service issues, and marketing campaigns. Ultimately, it allows you to improve your customer relationships, consequently increasing your customer retention rates and your growth.
A CRM gives you an overall view of what each and every customer is about. Each one of them gets a single page that details their information, interactions with the business in terms of interests or completed sales, their contact information, and all previous contacts. This information is then used to craft, customize, measure and manage all marketing, sales, and customer service experiences that may resonate with each particular customer. In essence, it builds loyalty with customers and improves their experience which is all blended into a database that can be accessed by everyone that needs it.
How It Applies to the Banking Industry?
All the information provided by a CRM allows banks to understand their customers at a personal level. It helps them among other things view all interactions a customer has had with the bank, their preferred methods of communication, their preferred banking products, and their banking behavior. It avails this information to different departments enabling them to act on customer preferences, target their sales, and keep in touch with them in the way they desire most. It streamlines the process of communication, leading to a more personalized experience throughout every aspect of their financial journey.
The Benefits of CRM System in Banking Industry
Helps in customer service
While a CRM cannot be compartmentalized as a customer service tool in its entirety, it is among the functions that it serves exceedingly well. It details all contact points a customer has had with the bank, including queries, compliments, and complaints, allowing the bank to react to these interactions through follow-ups and resolutions. This extends to social media interactions, which have become an integral part of our daily routines. Responses made through social media are especially influential since they cement that brand trust and lead to better customer satisfaction. This, in the end, leads to customer retention, which is the core of every successful business.
A CRM eases customer segmentation
This is where customers are categorized into different groups using shared characteristics. This improves and saves on marketing campaigns since products and services can be customized to appeal to individual groups, giving maximum return on investment. This way, they can adjust the pricing of certain customers, and improve their risk management, by proactively identifying those customers who display high-risk behavior, such as late payments and diminishing credit scores.
Saves time and effort
The system also saves time and effort. Because it avails so much information so readily and conveniently, personalized messages can be produced and delivered quickly. This builds a relationship with customers and enables the bank to anticipate their needs, based on such variable factors, like demographics, product updates, and developing technology.
Improves multi-channel communication
Perhaps best of all, a CRM improves multi-channel communication, as it has been underlined so clearly before. Because it introduces a new way of interaction, it enables the easier lead generation and lead conversion, culminating in new business. It enables existing customers to be persuaded to adopting new banking products as they grow their business, such as business loans and mortgages.
Summing up
A CRM is an essential part of any business at this stage in time, more so for one based in the service industry. CRM systems are taking a lead role in enterprising software is a testament to the fact. The banking industry will highly benefit from implementing this system, resulting in customer satisfaction and extending business.
Salesforce is a great choice as a CRM for banking. It is one of the finest choices for many industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and many more. Salesforce CRM for banking industry can add a lot of value to a mid-scale financial business.
Amy Linetti is a content creator and marketer at Growth.Digital. She loves to write about new trends in marketing and SaaS business. When she is not working, you’ll find her hanging out with her friends at her favorite cafe.