How financial service institutions can offer more value to their customers

Problems:

• Rising expectations: “Financial Institutions have been hit by a wave of rising consumer expectations…they have less loyalty … and are ready to switch for better service or a lower price.” (Deloitte Consulting.)

• Internet competition: The industry realizes comparable rates are easily available elsewhere.

• Scandal: In the wake of recent corporate scandal and resulting consumer mistrust, financial services are all tarred to some extent by the same brush; each institution needs to convey trustworthiness to their customers.

• Little one-to-one: Few companies have fully personalized dialogues with customers.

Fact: Customer service is more than ever a key component of client retention in the financial services industry.

Fact: Companies able to respond to their customers' individual needs are likely to be rewarded by greater loyalty.

Fact: Financial service web sites are just now going down the road seeking tools and applications to tie their customers to them – portfolio managers, stock alerts, or other services…but results are uneven, and few have really developed a “killer application.”

Conclusion: Companies that focus now on customer-centric products now are in position to gain market share more rapidly than other institutions.