Glia, the leading provider of Digital Customer Service, today shared the primary trends expected to impact the financial services landscape next year. The customer and member experience is more important than ever as financial institutions navigate an uncertain economic climate. Efficiency has emerged as a driving priority as financial institutions are challenged to accomplish more with fewer resources while continuing to improve the customer and member experience. Areas to watch include:
New efficiencies with ‘ChannelLess’ architecture
The omnichannel approach was a noble concept decades ago, promising channels that ‘talked’ to one another and provided a 360-degree view of customer and member relationships. But because most omnichannel “solutions” evolved from phone-based systems with digital channels bolted on, it has never lived up to its hype.
Typical omnichannel solutions have disparate paths for traditional phone and digital interactions—even on the same platform—creating significant inefficiencies. Service staff, for example, have to support different workflows for each channel—with little to no ability to seamlessly transition from one to another when needed. This creates a digital disconnect, which can drive up abandonment rates that result in missed business opportunities.
The inefficiencies of the digital disconnect extend inward from platform management and training to reporting. When different channels have separate data and analytics, it is challenging to reconcile into meaningful contact center insights and optimization
Recent research from Salesforce shows that 75% of consumers expect a seamless experience across all engagement channels and 73% would likely change brands if that experience is not effortless. ChannelLess architecture is emerging as omnichannel’s successor, offering a native digital-first approach that can fully resolve issues online without breaking the digital connection. Customers and members can engage from any channel and transition to another with ease, from SMS to chat, for example, or chat to video. In 2023, expect ChannelLess solutions to accelerate displacement of omnichannel systems.
A single platform for calls and screens
While a common goal is providing customers and members with digital options to engage, traditional phone support remains popular with some consumers—yet is functionally separate. Even though omnichannel solutions provide different degrees of digital capabilities, they are poorly integrated to the phone experience. This forces financial institutions to support multiple disparate platforms.
In 2023, we’ll see stronger solutions that unite traditional phone and digital engagements within a single ‘ChannelLess’ platform. This single-platform approach creates significant efficiencies for staffing, management and reporting, breaking the siloes between legacy phone support and Digital Customer Service. This trend will only further accelerate the expiration of omnichannel solutions.
The verticalization of conversational AI becomes mainstream
Automation is a top strategy for delivering efficiency, leading to rapid adoption of conversational AI technology and virtual assistants that provide intelligent self-service options in both text and voice channels. The challenge is to automate routine inquiries, maintain a positive experience and enable virtual assistants to easily connect customers and members with live support that can lower abandonment rates and drive up conversions.
Virtual assistants developed specifically for financial services are gaining broader adoption because, compared to their generic counterparts, they provide financial institutions a quicker and more relevant way to facilitate a convenient digital experience for consumers across both virtual and human assistants. Expect 2023 to be the year that financial institutions embrace verticalized, AI-powered virtual assistants en masse.
“Many financial institutions are struggling with an imagined dilemma between efficiency or a better customer experience. With Digital Customer Service, they can have both without compromise. The ChannelLess platform provides both a seamless digital experience and a more productive way to manage, assess and staff service needs. Bring the traditional phone into the digital fold, combined with AI-powered virtual assistants, and Digital Customer Service offers tremendous efficiency benefits while continuously improving the digital experience,” said Dan Michaeli, Co-Founder and CEO of Glia.