Banks Prepare For Customer Experience Wars

Consumers want good service from banks, but they don't typically enjoy doing business with them. At the same time, our survey of 190 North American banking executives shows that banks view customer experience as being critical and are increasingly focused on organic growth. What does this mean? The stage is being set for a battle in which banks will become more responsive to the changing needs of consumers — and fight to participate in a larger share of their financial activities. To succeed in this environment, banks need to chart a path toward Experience-Based Differentiation (EBD), an enterprisewide effort that focuses on three principles: obsess about customer needs; reinforce brands with every interaction; and treat customer experience as a competence, not a function. With this foundation in place, banks should push for more innovative approaches by examining five disruptive customer experience strategies: ultrasimplification, online infusion, service infusion, service amplification, and value repositioning.