Banks today try hard to build an emotional bond between them and their customers to increase their loyalty. Gone are the days when a customer was nothing more than one more ‘account’. Now, building a satisfying customer experience means paying heed to their emotional needs. At the core of banking, it is after all human beings conducting business with other human beings.
Personal Banking involves emotions
A recent observation by Bahaa Abdul Hussein has revealed that when a bank can meet customers’ important ‘needs’, they become more loyal customers of the bank. And they need more value-added services and the implementation of recent technology. The most important need is the simplification of banking, whatever services a customer is availing.
Customers want their banks to be dependable and work towards fulfilling their interests. Ultimately, all customers are looking for a great banking experience, where they can feel a sense of joy. Therefore, banks must put utmost importance on human emotions if they want to build lifelong customer relationships.
Customer loyalty depends less on best interest rates and products and a lot on emotional satisfaction. A person’s emotional state is very much linked to their financial condition. So there is a deep link between finances and emotion which banks now understand.
Understanding what drives customer loyalty
Credit unions and banks have to evaluate the reasons why customers are using their services or products. Banks with a high rate of customer loyalty have all dug into ‘why’ customers are being loyal to them. They have also explained ‘why must’ other customers keep using their products to their consumers.
These banks are well-aware that they need to show that they are honest and reliable to win consumers’ trust. They created plans based on customers’ feelings to win their loyalty.
The banks are also continually studying their customers to establish what their needs at the present are. Then they work towards meeting their needs.
There are different approaches or methods that financial institutions can use to develop loyalty. Banks can study the factors that influence the financial lives of customers and possible customers. They can also ask for their feedback and see what the customers feel the bank can work upon.
Removing the emotional gap
Banks should continuously strive towards closing the gap between a lifetime member and a transactional relationship. They should start by building a predictable image. Predictability drives loyalty as it brings a comfort factor. Consumers know what to do and how something will be done in their bank. They feel at ease when they know the experience they are going to have in their bank.
Customer service representatives must attend to customers’ problems, keep them informed, and have a respectful attitude under all circumstances. Banks also need to employ the latest technology that will enhance customers’ banking experience positively. Instead of being solely product-driven, they must learn to keep the customers’ emotions and also their employees at the core.
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