Lessons In How To Retain Financial Services Customers

In times of crisis, smart financial services firms focus on the customers they already have. Smart channel strategy executives do their part by delivering superior customer experiences. At Forrester's 2008 Financial Services Forum For Marketing And Strategy Professionals, keynote speakers offered a number of lessons on the subject. Charles Schwab, for example, recast client service as a differentiator, not an expense, and began offering free investment advice to all clients. Wachovia has for years been relentless about improving customer satisfaction, measuring even basic activities like calling customers by their names. And Capital One embedded its customer experience team in the IT organization so that development teams would hear "a single voice of strategic intent," in the words of CIO Rob Alexander.