Welcome to a new era in customer communications. Just about everybody has a smartphone these days. iPads are more common than laptops. And nobody sends a letter anymore. Analyst predict that the number of smartphone users worldwide will rise to 1.75 billion in 2014; tablet sales are expected to jump by 54%. Meanwhile the US Post Office has watched mail volumes decline by 25% or more in recent years, bringing the future of the 200+ year old service into question. It is clear that the way people communicate is changing dramatically. So the question becomes: have you kept pace with your digital era members and customers?
A New Era of CCM
The days of static member documents, printed and mailed by the thousands, are gone. Effective Customer Communications Management (CCM) today is much more about connecting, engaging and building relationships. It’s about engaging in a way that not only provides information, but also deepens the relationship established. As a result, members and customers learn from the communications integrity of a financial services company and the simplicity of the solutions they provide.
Leave Behind Tradition
Banks and credit unions have traditionally relied on printed pages to communicate. But paper is burdensome, costly and inefficient. Paper statements, invoices, notices, tax related documents, compliance documentation and a host of other communications documents clog files, have a higher risk of loss of data and take more staff to manage it all. A Customer Communications Management system developed in the cloud helps your members as well as your bottom line. Benefits are:
Improved customer loyalty via communications across social, web, email, paperless statements
Tools to build an ongoing relationship that drives brand preference
No costs associated with server storage hardware or proprietary software
Ease of integration into existing digital communications
Centralized data collection improves flexibility for compliance auditing purposes
Digital workflow provides a central point for data analysis, planning forecasting
Reduction/elimination of paper use, positively affecting the environment
Enhanced security due to cloud storage rather than manual filing systems
Improved financial records integrity through a secure cloud-based infrastructure
Craft a Formal Strategy
A formal customer communications strategy is essential for credit unions and other financial services firms interested in remaining sustainable and thriving in the digital frontier. The competitive nature of the financial services sector is such that without an actionable Customer Communications Management strategy, maintaining and/or growing customer loyalty will become more and more evasive. That’s why financial institutions need to be able to drive brand loyalty through tools and applications that not only make people’s lives better, they must be easy to use, solve problems, improve relationships and also be cost efficient.
Moving Forward
Communicating with members and customers is not as simple or as straightforward as it used to be. Add to that ever evolving demands for more relevant, personalized and trans-promotional content and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. A Customer Communication Management platform helps provide a single platform to manage all of your customer communications no matter what form they take. It is crucial to have a central point where communications meet to deliver value to the day-to-day transactions no matter what channel you use. In this way, you will satisfy your customers and members with a consolidated and measured approach to content, promotional offers, brand loyalty and online services that make the most of experiences and relationships.