Study after study relates how the large national banks are claiming a bigger share of the financial consumer market, taking an ever-larger slice of the finite financial consumer pie. And where they’re not grabbing up consumers, fintechs and “challenger” banks are ready and waiting!
Experts have long predicted that, by 2020, customer experience would be the battlefield of business. While CX has traditionally been the competitive differentiator of credit unions, now virtually EVERY bank has made improving the customer experience part of their strategic imperatives. At a credit union executive session last week, one executive challenged, “It’s all well and good for banks to SAY they’re competing on service, but are they actually EXECUTING?” Answer: They are.
The proof is in the American Customer Satisfaction Index report of how banks, after a 10-year period, have surpassed credit unions in customer satisfaction. This announcement was historic, but not unexpected. Support EXP recognized the beginning of this trend 10 years ago and, well, here we are, 10 years later, with banks successfully developing and deploying their CX strategies and solutions, with the industry results to prove it.
Over and over again I hear, “But the big banks have the deep pockets and big guns to take our market share – our members. We can’t compete with that.” I want to tell you that you can! You must. But to compete you need to double down with a data-driven strategy that will future-proof your market share in a way you have never done it before. You simply cannot settle for checking “Member Experience” off the proverbial list with some single score and calling it good.
What do I mean by “future-proofing your market share”? I mean taking the necessary steps to withstand the competitive threats coming into your market; to ensure that you are not made obsolete by new players in the banking arena; to enable you to keep your members close by actually EARNING their lifelong loyalty. I’m not talking about a purely defensive strategy, with the objective of (hopefully!) holding on to existing market share. In fact, the right MX strategy can be the trend changer that helps you carve out a future where you are back on top in the mind of the financial consumer.
But how do you get there? How are you going to fuel the growth, earnings and loyalty essential to fighting off the competitive threat and actually reversing the ACSI trend? You need a powerful data-driven solution to put you back in control. You need a proven strategic partner that the best-of-the-best, the crème de la crème, collaborate with to guide them to a future of increased growth, earnings and loyalty. And you need a culture focused with laser-like precision on your mission and reason for being. Because when it comes to the battle for market share in a CX-driven world, future-proofing demands future-PROVING: showing time and again the member IS your priority.
