The importance of customer relationship management cannot be overemphasized because of the tough competition among banks to attract and retain clients. With the increase in technological advancements, customers require technological solutions to their problems. A bank may have a huge number of customers grouped on the basis of the products they use, so managing them in a traditional way can become increasingly challenging and can result in the loss of precious customers. To attract new customers, retain the existing customers, and keep the attrition rate of customers in check, banks today invest heavily in customer relationship management.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software can go a long way in turning around the customer relationship management department of a bank, ensuring that all the processes of customer management are properly done, resulting in seamless communication between clients and the bank, which results in higher customer satisfaction, retention, and acquisition.
With the vast range of CRM for banks available in the market, determining what kind of CRMs banks use can make the process of selecting a capable CRM easier. In this article, we will review what kind of CRMs banks use for customer relationship management and what features a CRM platform must have to make it suitable for investing and adopting the platform.
1- Easy to integrate:
An effective CRM for banks is easy to integrate and adapts well to different customer groups of a bank. CRMs available in the market have been created to meet the common CRM demands of organizations, without focusing on a particular industry like banking or financial services institutions. A bank has many allied departments like insurance, wealth management, retail banking, etc. Many financial institutions, therefore, select those CRMs which are easier to integrate and can easily fulfill the needs of the majority of its customers and the organization itself.
2- Centralized Customer Data:
CRMs deployed by banks contain centralized customer data accessible with a click of a button. A customer inquiring about a product or any communication from the bank can be made quickly using the centralized data without manually searching the physical records of a customer. Banks with an efficient CRM in place are better informed about the demographics and other different attributes of their customers, helping the bank to make marketing decisions and target new customers to grow its customer base.
3- Workflow automation:
To cater to the needs of the huge number of customers, banks deploy CRMs that have the capability of automating the workflow of different processes. For example, a bank can automate the workflow process of account creation, signing up for a particular service, scheduling a call from the customer care department, etc. They schedule workflows to contact clients or send certain emails based on certain actions. The duties of customer support staff can be allocated to a particular activity in the workflow automation process, helping in providing an excellent customer service experience to the customers.
Automation results in a paperless environment and increases productivity in the processes of the bank. Mistakes are also minimized when the processes are automated, all of which increase the customer experience.
4- Lead Management:
Lead management is one of the biggest reasons banks invest in CRM platforms. From creating a sales funnel, keeping track of new leads to converting the prospective client to a customer, an effective CRM platform can play a big role. That is the reason why banks critically analyze the lead management features of CRMs before deciding to deploy the platform in the bank. The benefits of a CRM platform far exceeds the costs when the banks are able to consistently make leads and convert them into consistent revenue-generating long term investment customers. With the existing customer data in the centralized data bank, the bank can take the lead management to the next level and upsell many other products to customers.
5- Communication with customers:
Banks, known for excellent customer service, deploy CRM that provides seamless communication with customers. An efficient CRM platform allows banks to create different communication channels and provides different options to customers to communicate with organizations. With the help of CRM, queries of the customers are automatically directed to the concerned personnel in the bank for quick and effective resolution. Many CRMs allow banks to manage their social media accounts to promote and market their products and services while also making effective communication with the customers.
6- Customer Satisfaction:
With the use of a CRM communication is faster, more organized and always more on point. Even in a big firm it allows a personal level connection, with all client data and history in one place where even an employee who has never worked with a client can know everything they need to know to give them an exceptional level of service. That means the client will stick around and keep their investment within the bank.
Conclusion:
There are many different types of banks, each having its own customer relationship management requirements. Many different kinds of CRMs are available that meet the common CRM requirements of the banks. Ideally, an efficient CRM for banks should contain all the features that we discussed above and meet the needs of wealth management.
