Every digital transformation must begin and end with the customer. But, navigating digitalization journeys in uncertain times such as these can be a major challenge, especially for firms in highly customer-centric industries such as banking and financial services (BFSI). The third session of Mint Think Tank, The Inner Circle (BFSI Chapter) titled ‘Coming up next: The innovation charter’ brings together leaders of the BFSI industry to understand how they are using a digital compass to navigate today’s uncertain times and using customer insights to drive growth and workforce productivity.
Today, customers have become more open to branchless banking online or mobile transactions, interacting with chatbots. According to a recent survey conducted by Salesforce, only 27% of customers describe the industry as completely customer-centric.
“If we look at it from a BFSI industry point of view, banking, insurance, financial services actually started with products at the centre of it. Over a period of years, we went on to include the population into financial inclusion as we call it, and when we did that, it was centred around an offering of financial services with a savings account, or maybe for a loan or credit card, making it a product-centric world," said Vikrant Chowdhary, vice-president-finserv and enterprise business, Salesforce India. The pandemic has been one of the largest digital transformation levers, and one of the biggest changes that have come about is that services and customer needs have become product-neutral.
Customers’ expectations have changed with the rise of big data and social media. The pace of this transition has been way faster than what was expected, opening up gaps in the customer service process.
In such a scenario, managing ever-changing customer expectations will be the next challenge for a lot of industry leaders who want to be ahead of the curve. IIFL Wealth has been reinventing its offerings to include video portfolio statements for clients and a personal wealth Whatsapp, IWA.
“One of the most critical points for us has been to ensure that we keep a complete view of the client. That’s where Salesforce came in as a platform to evolve the overall view from a continuity perspective. So, whether it is a change in relationship manager for a client or a shift in communication from a WhatsApp chat to a call, the handover is very smooth. We know exactly what the conversation was and how to continue it further," said Abhishek Chandra, Chief Technology Officer, IIFL Wealth.
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