The Big Bang approach might seem attractive, but incremental changes, starting with the areas that will affect the customers directly, is more effective. You can learn more about how companies should navigate a changing financial sector and how to boost your digital transformation in our e-book, Digital Disruption in Financial Services: How to Manage Change.

The new era of financial services turns priorities upside down. It is no longer the companies who dictate what the clients need, instead the clients “choose with their feet”, as they pick and choose an individual combination of services, often from several different providers.

In response to this, financial service providers need to take an individualised approach to their customers, which is a fundamental shift away from the traditional segmentation of customers in tiers based on their profitability.

Instead, companies are working on creating clusters of customers with specific profiles created from data about the individual customer.

“Because we have technology and data to do that, we’re able to have tailor made approaches for each customer. It’s really very specific,” explains Lucas Santacruz, Customer Service Director at AlfaPeople.

To move forward with the digital transformation, your company needs to have the ability to collect and analyze data about customers and their online behaviour. This means implementing digital structures software with these abilities – and in order to be truly digital and boost your digital transformation, these structures need to be integrated throughout the company.

The ‘Big Bang’ approach won’t work

The current situation calls for true digital transformation, but a ‘Big Bang’ approach which substitutes IT on a company wide scale won’t work, according to Lucas Santacruz. Instead the company should take an incremental approach, beginning with the areas that will most impact revenue. That is the frontend of your business.

“Legacy companies should expedite their business transformation on the front lines; in the applications or the software services that impact their customer experience. Start by implementing the needed software and structures in sales, marketing, customer service and your call center. Focus the transformation on the areas that will impact the customer directly,” he says. This will help boost your digital transformation.

Small incremental changes make it easier to control the process while limiting investment and increasing the chance of success. Once the digital transformation is complete on the front lines, the transformation can move on to the backend. The organisation can then be converted to a digital solution area by area, in time integrating every part of the company.

“You start from the front and move to the back. Not from the back to the front. It’s not easy. I’m not saying it’s an easy approach, but it’s really important to make the transformation in a way that benefits the customer the most. I think that is the key take,” says Lucas Santacruz.

Already a part of the digital age? Remember to use the data

Creating a personalized and differentiated user experience starts with the collection and analysis of data– but it doesn’t end there. The next step is putting the data to use. This is where many companies fail, as explained by Lucas Santacruz.

“My take on this is that even though companies have loads of data, it looks like they aren’t as successful as they could be in establishing personalized customer profiles.”

In other words, actually using the data can be a challenge. The idea is to create a structure that supports a personalized experience for the user. So when a customer reaches out to the company, whether through a web portal, chat or a phone call, the experience is tailored to that particular customer’s situation and needs.

“This gap between having the data needed and establishing structures that makes personalization possible is quite common. Bridging this gap is very difficult for many companies. They have the data, they know the customer, but they are not able to leverage the data in the different parts of the organization,” says Lucas Santacruz.

This is a problem because data in itself is worthless. It is only valuable if you use it – for instance, let data inform the relationship between the company and the customer. Otherwise, data is nothing more than numbers.

The solution lies in technology. With software such as Microsoft Dynamics 365,  it is possible to set up automated processes that use data to personalize the user experience. This makes the experience relevant and builds trust between customer and company. This creates loyalty.

Interested in learning more? You can always contact AlfaPeople