The CX Revolution in Financial Services: Key Trends & Salesforce’s Transformative Impact

In a world where products can be replicated, a memorable customer experience (CX) is the most powerful differentiator.

With endless choices at consumers’ fingertips, the experience you offer is what truly sets your brand apart. The quality of the experience often drives your decision, whether it’s the clothing you wear, the phone you use, or any other product.

This is especially true in the B2B landscape, where financial services demand trust, transparency, and efficiency. In this industry, exceptional customer experience isn’t just a luxury—it’s a necessity.

However, per a study, enhancing the customer journey is the top strategic priority for global banking leaders, yet many financial institutions are still playing catch-up. Despite a growing investment in CX, only 37% of organizations have a formal CX plan in place⁽ⁱ⁾.

To close this gap, financial firms need a robust platform that seamlessly manages everything from customer interactions to complex financial transactions.

Salesforce leads the way in this transformation by offering financial institutions tools that extend far beyond traditional CRM capabilities. With Salesforce, financial firms can leverage data-driven insights to deliver personalized, seamless experiences at every customer touchpoint.

For example, Salesforce provides a 360-degree view of each customer, enabling advisors and service teams to anticipate needs, offer tailored solutions, and build deeper relationships. Additionally, Salesforce’s AI-powered analytics, a.k.a Einstein, help financial institutions identify trends, predict customer behavior, and make quick, informed decisions.

In this blog post, we’ll delve into the top trends shaping the future of customer experience in the financial industry and how Salesforce can elevate your CX strategy.

Key CX Trends Shaping Financial Services

Customers today are more diverse in demographics and increasingly financially informed. This shift has created a demand for faster, more personalized services across various industries, including financial institutions. Consequently, these businesses must rethink their approach to data and technology to offer a genuinely unique customer experience.

Here are the top customer experience trends that financial institutions should keep an eye on.

The Transitioning to Omnichannel Excellence

Financial institutions are increasingly enhancing customer engagement by offering multiple channels such as online platforms, phone services, branch visits, and mobile apps. However, the trend is moving towards providing a truly omnichannel experience. This means ensuring a seamless, integrated, and personalized journey across all touchpoints, whether customers visit a branch, use an ATM, or access their accounts via smartphone.

Financial services must mirror the convenience and loyalty-building capabilities seen in top retail brands, offering an integrated and smooth experience that delights customers.

Expanding Functionality Across Digital Channels

As digital natives continue to represent a growing portion of the global population, financial services are focused on meeting the needs of these tech-savvy consumers. These individuals, who have grown up with digital devices, expect modern, user-friendly experiences that eliminate the outdated processes of the past. Financial institutions are responding by:

• Promoting the adoption of mobile payments to simplify transactions.
• Enhancing chatbot and robo-advisor services to expand online capabilities.
• Incorporating gamification to make financial activities more engaging.

Leveraging personalization technology to create more relevant and enjoyable digital experiences.

Advancing Self-Service Capabilities

The trend towards automation in customer interactions is gaining momentum, with 70% of CX leaders thinking that generative AI makes every digital customer interaction more efficient⁽ⁱⁱ⁾. This shift is evident in financial services, where customers increasingly rely on digital tools to meet their service needs. They are seeking efficient, self-service solutions that allow them to manage transactions independently, without navigating complex service processes. Financial institutions are improving their self-service capabilities by:

• Transforming ATMs into multifunctional machines.
• Integrating video content to improve customer understanding of products and services.
• Adding live chat features to websites to provide real-time assistance.

Strengthening Customer Relationships

While digital initiatives are critical, the human element remains essential in customer service. Despite the convenience of self-service options, customers still value human interaction for guidance and support, particularly in complex situations. Financial institutions are focusing on cultivating customer-centric cultures and training their employees to meet their needs such as:

• Assisting customers effectively across different generations.
• Actively seeking and responding to customer feedback.
• Proactively addressing potential issues before they escalate.
• Utilize personal service channels like social media and live chat to enhance customer engagement.

Empowering Customers With Financial Education

As financial services continue to evolve, the complexity of their offerings often presents a challenge to customers. To address this, financial institutions are placing greater emphasis on educating their customers, helping them to confidently manage their finances, make informed investment decisions, and select appropriate insurance products.

This trend involves integrating educational support throughout the customer journey, from initial inquiries to long-term relationship management, ensuring that customers are well-informed at every stage.

Delivering Personalized Experiences Through Data

The use of customer data and contextual insights is driving the trend towards personalization. Financial institutions are increasingly leveraging this data to deliver tailored experiences in real-time across various channels, meeting customer expectations for relevance and personalization.

By combining advanced analytics and machine learning with their digital marketing efforts, financial institutions can engage customers more effectively, driving both satisfaction and sales.

Prioritizing Transparency and Trust

As financial institutions collect more customer data to offer personalized experiences, the demand for transparency and trust is growing. Customers now expect clear communication about how their data is being used and assurances that their personal information is secure.

To build and maintain this trust, financial institutions are emphasizing their commitment to safeguarding customer data. This trust, in turn, encourages customers to share more information, enabling further personalization and enhancing the overall customer experience.

How Salesforce is Transforming CX for Financial Services Firms

With the shift to online financial services, maintaining long-term customer relationships has become more challenging. Salesforce brings crucial data to your fingertips, enabling the delivery of personalized services that foster customer loyalty.

Salesforce equips organizations with the tools needed to boost performance, drive sales, and increase revenue – ultimately fueling business growth.

Here are key ways on how Salesforce can benefit your financial services firm.

• Personalize Onboarding Experiences: Salesforce revolutionizes the traditional banking experience by transforming it into a personalized experience. With deep insights at their disposal, financial services organizations can better understand each customer, offering tailored recommendations that guide them through every step.

• Simplify Credit and Debit Card Dispute Resolutions: With Salesforce, customers no longer need to wait in long queues for customer service assistance. The entire process of disputing credit or debit card transactions becomes fully automated, delivering real-time results. This not only improves efficiency but also ensures that customers receive fast, effective, and empathetic support from their financial institutions.

• Accelerate Speed to Market: Salesforce empowers organizations to bring new products to market swiftly, with low-code/no-code solutions. These tools minimize the need for specialized talent, making digital transformation easier and accelerating time to market.

• Gain a 360-degree Customer View: Salesforce integrates seamlessly with other financial services software, providing comprehensive insights into every customer interaction – from loan applications to deposits. This consolidated view enables financial institutions to understand customer preferences and behaviors, leading to more informed decisions.

Transforming CX with Einstein AI and Financial Services Cloud

Salesforce envisions a game-changing transformation in customer experience (CX) through the synergy of Einstein AI and Financial Services Cloud.

These powerful tools are designed to enhance productivity and efficiency, delivering superior service to clients.

By integrating data, AI, CRM, and trust, businesses can revolutionize the financial services industry. This combination paves the way for exceptional customer experiences while driving productivity and growth.

Einstein Prompt Builder simplifies the creation of intricate insurance quotes and solutions, streamlining the process for clients.

With Financial Services Cloud, businesses can efficiently manage pipelines, collaborate with deal teams, leverage internal and third-party data, and ensure that information reaches the right stakeholders.

AI-powered CRM Analytics offers valuable insights into sales team performance, leads, and opportunities. Businesses can utilize Salesforce’s predictive AI to anticipate client needs, whether it’s for policy renewals or cross-sell opportunities, with the help of pre-filled templates.

The Einstein Trust Layer features a zero-retention architecture, crucial for maintaining client data security, especially for regulated financial services with a global clientele.

This layer distinguishes generative AI from other tools by ensuring compliance while providing personalized experiences. It integrates with Salesforce Data Cloud to enhance responses with reliable data.

Additionally, Einstein Copilot includes features like PII protection, data masking, toxicity monitoring, and compliance checks. A safety detector continuously evaluates AI-generated responses to ensure they are accurate, secure, and reliable.

Conclusion

Every interaction is an opportunity to create a lasting impression – make it count.

In the fast-paced world of financial services, delivering exceptional customer experiences is essential, not optional.

Salesforce is a game-changer in this arena, helping financial firms redefine client interactions. With its comprehensive suite of tools – from advanced data analytics to seamless system integrations—Salesforce enables a more personalized, responsive, and efficient customer journey.

By harnessing Salesforce, financial institutions gain deeper insights into customer behavior, streamline their operations, and engage clients with tailored interactions. This leads to a more agile and customer-centric approach that not only meets but anticipates client needs.

As financial services firms navigate the complexities of today’s market, Salesforce offers the innovation and flexibility needed to stay ahead and deliver unmatched customer experiences.

Statistics References:

⁽ⁱ⁾ Salesforce
⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ Zendesk