Mind the Advice Gap

With consumers feeling uneasy about their finances, they are turning to their banks to provide advice and guidance. However, the advice they seek out is less than satisfactory. Why? According to the 2023 J.D. Power U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, overall customer financial health has declined 9 percentage points.

On this episode of Innovating the Customer Experience podcast, J.D. Power experts Michael Vermillion and Jennifer White are joined by Evan Siegel from eGain Corporation. Evan Siegal brings his extensive background in creating customer experience strategies that prioritize effective advice and guidance. Together, they explore the limitations of traditional approaches to advice and the actionable steps your organization can take to provide guidance that will close the gap to meet your consumers’ needs.

Defining advice and guidance

The foundation of advice and guidance typically includes issue resolution and providing customers with support to solve their problems. However, addressing a customer’s concern and providing a solution is considered a basic expectation. The key to winning customer loyalty is through advising your customers on how to meet their specific needs. For example, some customers are looking for advice on how to achieve their financial goals like improving their credit score. Offering a product to achieve those goals, along with an explanation of how to use this product, goes a long way toward building loyalty.

Checking in, are brands offering helpful advice to customers?

Data from the 2023 U.S. Retail Banking Advice Satisfaction Study reveals the fact that despite having regular interactions with their banks, banking customers often fail to recognize these interactions as valuable advice or guidance. Exceptional advice or guidance goes beyond addressing customers' needs; it involves providing a clear call to action and a genuine understanding of the next steps they should take. Moreover, customers are looking for personalized and relevant advice that aligns with their unique financial circumstances, especially considering that two-thirds of U.S. bank customers are financially unhealthy compared to 50% three years ago and are looking for additional support.

Why are brands underperforming?

Why are brands across all industries falling short, with the banking sector particularly struggling to satisfy customer demands and meet their expectations?

• Customer expectations are that their bankers will conduct a thorough assessment of their needs and offer customized recommendations based on their answers and the information stored in the CRM system. This is difficult for many frontline staff to do successfully, and the problem is compounded by the high turnover rate, which makes it difficult to maintain an experienced and consistent team.
• Many legacy existing technologies are not sophisticated enough to meet customer demands through digital channels. For digital tools to be effective, they should be conversational, leverage CRM data, ask appropriately tailored follow-up questions, and offer tailored recommendations.
• Most banks prioritized efficient processes over niche advisory services, but now there is a demand for tailored experiences that banks can't meet due to staff limitations.

How can brands do a better job of delivering advice and guidance? 

• Implementing a strategy that focuses on customer segments and directing customers toward the appropriate channel to achieve their goal.
• Emphasize to your team the importance of building relationships with customers while letting technology handle data-driven tasks, such as needs assessments and product recommendations.
• The key to successful in-person interactions is creating a branded product or sense of community around conducting regular financial wellness reviews.
• A regular review of every transaction can help customers improve their financial well-being and develop good habits. Even though some customers may find it repetitive, it's important to repeat these interactions to encourage proactive financial improvement.

Can brands deliver a better experience online? 

To deliver better advice and guidance online, brands can focus on:

• Leveraging Technology: Utilize AI-powered systems and knowledge management technologies to create virtual bankers capable of understanding customer needs, accessing CRM data, and seamlessly transferring to human interaction if needed.
• Bring Empathy into the Digital Experience: Digital tools should incorporate human moments to confirm understanding, address questions, and provide personalized advice, in addition to focusing on functionality like speed, visual appeal, and navigation.
• Multi-Channel Integration: Recognize that most bank customers use multiple channels for their banking needs. This reason is why there needs to be a cohesive approach between human interactions and digital experiences to maintain consistency and avoid any disconnects.

Final Thoughts 

Ready to take the first step towards enhancing the guidance and advice offered within your organization? Start this conversation by:

• Choosing a specific persona and customer journey to perform an audit of your current digital channel’s ability to offer a seamless experience between channels and recommendations to offer the best-personalized products.
• Identifying gaps between customer expectations and the services you offer. Analyze these problem areas and seek out new technologies for better customer experiences.
• Looking at the readiness of your organization to make organizational shifts to offer better advice and guidance.

Listen to the full podcast below to learn more about strategies to provide even better advice and guidance in your organization and to hear about top-performing brands that are excelling in their advisory services.

Next Steps

How can your team build personas efficiently and accurately?

Explore J.D. Power Financial Advice and Guidance lab to leverage the power of robust segmentation with the intelligence to recommend financial solutions best fit for your customers. This low-risk, low-cost approach to rapidly test new approaches to advice and guidance across all channels is how banks are rapidly integrating financial health strategies within their teams.

Interested in learning more? Watch our Stop Selling and Start Advising webinar to learn more about financial health and guidance strategy for your front line and view a demo of the Financial Advice and Guidance Lab.