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Omnichannel banking best practices to enhance your customer service

3 MIN READ

Modern life is fast-paced and hectic. Customers don’t often have time for in-branch banking. Plus, they’re increasingly confident about using online tools. And so digital banking is becoming less a useful alternative than an essential when it comes to customer service.

But while customers appreciate the improved efficiency and convenience of online banking, a personal touch and human element is still vital to building trust. Indeed, more than half of those surveyed by Accenture wanted to be able to switch between digital channels and human advisors.

Omnichannel banking offers the speed and ease of digital tools while making space for those personalized and human interactions that make customers feel safe and secure. The benefits of this hybrid approach are multiple:

  1. By eliminating any faffing around and small talk, banking online is quicker and more efficient than in-person banking, saving time for both advisors and customers.
  2. With each interaction taking less time, advisors can get through more queries in a day, reducing support costs.
  3. Banks can adapt their service to each unique customer. If a customer wants to talk on the phone, that’s fine. Or if they need specific guidance, tools like co-browsing further customize the conversation.
  4. Improved efficiency and more meaningful and productive conversations dramatically boost customer satisfaction, and therefore loyalty.

Read more about omnichannel banking benefits 

Best practices to get the most out of your customers

Different customers have different needs. The best omnichannel banking practices enable banks to modify the customer journey as necessary to meet the customer on their own terms.

Customize the journey

Banks tend to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to customer service. But no customer is the same and each customer journey should be unique. What’s more, customer needs may vary from day to day. One day, a customer might be happy to talk via video call. The next, they might prefer to text message. Banks must customize their support service accordingly.

Embrace a hybrid experience

Omnichannel banking is all about hybridity. A hybrid customer journey makes it possible to alternate, at will, between diverse digital tools, from chatbots to more traditional forms of interaction, such as phone calls. A hybrid approach allows for flexibility. The service can be adapted to the individual, rather than assuming all customers want the same thing.

Enable self-service

For some customers, self-service tools like chatbots will be enough – especially for everyday banking operations like paying bills. Chatbots can also be a first port of call if a customer has a question, providing instantaneous answers, 24/7, at no added cost to the bank. And for more complex queries, chatbots can on-board customers before transferring them to an advisor.

Integrate the digital and physical

Omnichannel banking strikes a balance between the real and the online world, integrating the digital and physical. For example, live chat, which allows for remote but personal conversations. Or the case of a customer who starts a conversation online, follows up with a phone call, before finishing with an in-person meeting. Omnichannel banking makes these transitions seamless and the experience uninterrupted.

Level up the conversation

The customer-advisor conversation is enhanced by a range of omnichannel banking solutions. Tools like live chat, secure text messaging, and video and voice calls allow for conversation in real-time. Tools like co-browsing allow for more productive interactions, providing a visual context to an exchange. And chatbots dispense advice in the natural format of a conversation.

Omnichannel banking & Unblu

Unblu’s omnichannel banking solution offers banks a hybrid approach, combining high-tech with human expertise, and empowering financial providers to offer a truly personal service. Learn more by booking a demo here.