With the digital disruption becoming increasingly relevant in our economy, it is more important than ever for organizations, regardless of industry, to understand what customer experience means. It has been defined in many ways, but our definition aims to explain the scope of customer experience:
Customer experience: the interactions between an organization and a customer over the duration of the relationship, and the employee’s perception of their engagement
It’s simple, really – when customers are engaged they are more likely to increase purchase behaviors. Organizations can invest more in their partnerships and business growth as a result.
Empowering the Financial Services Industry with Digital Technology
It’s no secret that digital is disruptive on a titanic scale. Financial providers are no exception. Successful financial providers aren’t just willing to invest in digital technology that empowers their customers, they require it.
Financial education platforms provide financial services institutions with a competitive edge in today’s crowded marketplace. The educational components of financial fitness solutions are generating 3X the premium for income annuities as non-web efforts (1).
Digital-based financial education is proven to increase lead generation and transactions at 25x the normal rate (2). Providing customers with financial education platforms drives additional actions from these customers. This means more investments in their financial partners, employees, and customers alike. It enables them to attract, build, and cultivate deeper relationships with their clients.
Use Case: Large Insurance Company Leverages Digital Technology to Drive Business Growth
A large insurance company that places emphasis on financial education for its customers made a strategic decision to drive their business growth. The company decided to offer product and company information to its clients, including a large financial education component.
“Our thought was to serve as an educational resource with the belief that if we provided the education, people would establish a bond with the company and look to our agents when it came time to buy.” – VP of Corporate Internet Department
Their belief paid off. The insurance company saw more than 2500% growth in a span of 5 years through new sales leads and transactions resulting from online financial education. This includes an increase of over 700,000 unique visitors, the website generated more than 75,000 new leads and 11,000 new transactions within a 5 year span.
By offering financial education through digital technology, the insurance company had the unique ability to educate their clients ahead of time. When it was ready to meet with its customers, it could have a meaningful discussion that aligned the customer experience with business objectives. Digital experience has become the first step in the relationship-building process with clients for financial providers.
Resources
- Case Study: New York Life 2007
- IRA participation and budgeting are self-reported; retirement contributions are from administrative data