Most firms would acknowledge that good customer experience and subsequent retention flow through to profitability and business performance. For customers who take advice. this has historically been about a long-term relationship with an individual adviser – and their personal brand has been pivotal in acquiring and retaining clients. A wave of adviser retirements and significant industry consolidation are challenging this model. How do firms build a brand that talks to the personal connection clients want?
The foundation stone has to be through delivering a consistent, quality customer experience. Successful firms engender a culture that builds practices to treat clients well – so they stay with the firm and reinforce the brand halo when they refer friends and tell others about the brand..
So what does it take to deliver success. It is estimated that it takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative one.
Even small levels of dissatisfaction can have a significant impact on customer behaviour and likelihood to recommend
The impact of good and bad client experiences is neither linear nor symmetrical. Building customer satisfaction can be challenging. It is only beyond a certain threshold of satisfaction that behaviours such as loyalty, increased spending and brand advocacy are materially enhanced. Companies know they have to deliver time and time again to boost positive customer perceptions to shift the dial. On the negative side however, even small levels of dissatisfaction can have a significant impact on customer behaviour.
This asymmetry really matters: when we have a good experience, we typically tell a handful of people. If we have a bad experience we tell on average a dozen friends and colleagues. News of bad experiences travels twice as fast as good news and can quickly impact brand reputation and referral.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a KPI of client experience health. It measures a persons’ likelihood to recommend a brand. If you want to drive revenue generation, it is referrals that matter to a far greater degree than satisfaction or repeat purchase.
Turning Insight into action is critical
Understanding customer pain points is critical, along with having effective operational processes to resolve them. Turning a bad experience into a good one in a timely way can set businesses apart.
- Embed customer feedback loops at key customer touchpoints to keep your finger on the pulse and monitor for pain points.
- Understand the moments of truth in customer journeys and develop seamless experiences around these with continuous improvements
- Know the moments that matter when human service is more appropriate than a digital experience
- Close the loop with detractors to resolve their issues in a timely way – ideally within 48 hours
- Empower front line teams to provide great client experience – happy employees lead to happy customers.
The Wisdom Council are experts in helping you build a Voice of the Client ecosystem to ensure insight delivers an effective feedback loop that allows you to improve client experience and, ultimately, business outcomes.
Written by
Stella Creasey
Client Director
With over 25 years’ experience in senior roles leading client experience, research and insight across wealth and asset management, media and telecommunications…