Will Your Online Financial Service Click With Your Customers
Take a look at these 10 top tips

by Ken Shapiro, President, AskIt.com

More and more financial services customers are choosing to click rather than call to get the information they need about their bank, credit card, brokerage and other personal accounts. So it's crucial for financial services companies to deliver what their customers want … including up-to-date account information and quick, accurate answers to customer questions.

While financial services customers still prefer the phone to the mouse by 10 to 1, online usage is readily growing. In fact, online companies will invest $9 billion on web-enabling call centers in the year 2003 to improve the speed and quality of their responses while reducing costs, predicts one investment banking firm.

If you're considering starting or enhancing an online customer service operation, here are some expert recommendations to help guide you.

1. Start simple.
Don't overwhelm your online customer with an explosion of options. Be sure to "greet" new arrivals in a way that enables them to be recognized on subsequent visits. Offer service choices that logically move customers from automated service (online statements, bill paying, changing personal information) to personal service. While frequently-asked questions can be handled by an automated-response system, more complicated inquiries may require one-on-one chat answers or a good, old-fashioned phone call.

2. Privacy is the #1 concern.
People today are more concerned than ever about the safety and privacy of their personal information, especially when it comes to their money. It's absolutely critical that you communicate your protection guarantees clearly and up front to give your customer the reassurances they're almost certainly looking for.

3. Ask for feedback at every customer visit.
In addition to asking customers to provide you with feedback, it's critical to closely track the content of both your incoming and outgoing email. Frequently, you will be able to spot a problem or difficulty and quickly solve it. You'll also want to make sure that your representatives are appropriately responding to customers' questions with courtesy and respect, as well as with answers that are accurate and concise.

4. Treat customers with respect.
Don't irritate customers by asking them for information you already have about them. Any statement information that appears online should be up-to-date. Keep in mind, it's often more difficult to help customers online than on the phone. In emails, people are more likely to lose patience and yell than they are on the phone.

5. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.
Customers falsely believe that all interactions that take place via the web are real time, so they expect instant answers. The truth is that only a small percentage of financial companies provide real-time solutions. So it's critical for you to communicate to the customer immediately (within a few minutes of receiving the request) to thank them for using your online service and to tell them exactly when you will get back to them with a response. Then make sure you deliver on that promise.

6. Stay on top of the trends.
Visit your competitors' websites on a regular basis. Look for trends that you might be able to use on your site. Keep an eye on who provides the best customer service in your industry. How do you measure up? And how can you improve?

7. Position yourself for what's next.
The new generation of online customer service users are well educated, have high incomes and a more complicated financial picture. Online time savings and money management features will be extremely important to them.

8. Be willing to invest.
Good people and good technology are a must. All customer information needs to be updated on a regular basis, at least every 24 hours. If your site goes down, you want to hear it from your IT team, not from your customers and you want to have the talent and capability to get it back up and running fast.

9. Carefully select and train your staff.
Any representatives chosen to work with customers via email must know how to communicate in writing and be trained in proper email etiquette. Remember, they represent your company, just as much or more than a person they deal with face to face.

10. Encourage use.
Make sure your site is as customer friendly and easy to use as possible. Take every opportunity to invite customers to visit your site. Effective ways to communicate include statement messages, email messages, and informing incoming customer service callers that this service is available. Incentives, such as free gifts or entries into contests, also help to build traffic.

While the phone may still be your customers' favorite way to contact you, preference for the web is growing. It may pay for you to begin to ramp up now and be ready to take advantage of the enhanced speed and quality that online customer service can deliver.

AskIt.com's solution allows companies to cost-effectively: reduce inbound emails and customer support costs up to 80%; increase customer service levels by offering 24x7 automated support; and, gain valuable insight into their businesses. The AskIt! system's functionality includes: self-help; inbound and outbound email management tools; and, integration with live-chat. AskIt.com customers include: Loan Quorum, Scottrade, Dean & Deluca, ritzcamera.com, Boater's World, The American Society for Association Executives, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the New York New Media Association, BabyUniverse.com, and ActionGear.com. AskIt.com is a privately held company and is headquartered in New York. For additional information, contact info@askit.com or call (212) 414-9590.