Too often, financial institutions position themselves as background utilities, ready when you need them, but often failing to engage customers on a regular basis. In order for your financial institution to be top of mind and constantly deepening relationships with customers, you need to be proactive in your communication.
Think about the following ways you can re-engage customers to create a dynamic, mutually beneficial relationship.
Timely Offers
Your organization should be leveraging customer data to make timely offers about your other products and services. For example, your Millennial customers are in a prime age demographic for buying homes. As such, your organization should utilize customer data such as balances, income and credit score, find ways to pre-approve your customers for mortgages, and find eye-grabbing ways to communicate this to them.
The most important message to convey when reaching out with proactive offers is the value you can bring to customers. Rather than creating a spammy ad, try to create messaging that can resonate with your customers. Think about their life situations, their values, and the way your product or service can help fit into their vision of the best version of their lives.
Important Information
In the era of Covid-19, the financial world changes at a moment’s notice. This is especially true of varying interest rates, moratoriums on rent and mortgages and stimulus checks. As a financial institution, you’re the expert on these topics, and you likely know more about these topics than 99% of your customers.
If you have that information, share it! Think about how you can digest and explain complex pieces of legislation in a way that will resonate with your customers. Make sure they understand what they’re entitled to, and how you’re working in their benefit.
Customers need a liaison for changes in the financial world, and when most average people think of the financial world, they view it through the lens of personal finance and their relationship with their financial institutions.
Security Alerts
Security alerts are not only necessary to make customers aware of potential issues, but also to reinforce the fact that you are constantly looking out for customers’ best interests. In 2021, financial institutions are focused on security as a top issue, and it’s important that your customers know what enhancements you’re making to protect their finances.
Beyond issues, reach out proactively with ways they can help protect and reinforce the security of their finances to avoid problems and headaches in the future.
Valuable New Features
When your digital team rolls out a new iteration of your app, a website update, or a new budgeting tool, let your customers know about it. More importantly, make them understand it and find utility in it as quickly as possible. For example, when they open the app, have pop-up windows that can explain new features in 60 seconds or less. By presenting them with immediate utility and ease of use, you’ll impress your customers and reinforce the idea that you’re able to provide them with value without burdening them with a steep learning curve.
