Are you listening to what your customers are saying about you?

Jacqueline Dewey, CEO of Smart Money

People on enhancing trust and adapting to new regulations

For those working in financial services today, there’s many challenges to be faced. Not only is there the need to support your customers as they continue to grapple with the cost-of-living crisis, there’s also the introduction of the new Consumer Duty in July this year to contend with. These two key focuses for this year mean it has never been more important for companies to listen and learn from their customers, and to ensure that products and services meet customer expectations and demand.

Consumers Are Listening To Each Other

In any industry it’s rare for someone to make a purchase without doing research, and in the financial services sector, this is arguably more important than other business sectors. Our recent research found:

● Eighty-four per cent of consumers trust reviews from other consumers, compared to 67 per cent who trust reviews from professionals within the industry

● Sixty-nine per cent of consumers are likely to change their mind after reading reviews

● More people read reviews than consult advisors when deciding which financial products to use (23 per cent vs 17 per cent)

● Over 40 per cent of consumers seek reviews if the product or service they’re considering is new to them

Added to this is the fact that after years of being told to be cautious with scams and several banking scandals in the headlines, being able to trust an organisation is a top priority for consumers within financial services. Ensuring you listen to your customers and are regularly collecting feedback from them at all key stages in the customer lifecycle should form an important part of your product management approach. Customer feedback solutions don’t have to be complicated but can offer a wide range of benefits to a company. If you’re not actively collecting and using customer feedback on a regular basis, here’s six reasons to make you think again.

1social Proof

Genuine customer feedback can have a positive, psychological impact on prospective customers, building a sense of trust and credibility for your business. If a company has received a variety of positive reviews, cautious consumers are likely to feel reassured that the product or service provided is good quality and from a reputable company. Our recent research found that consumers were 69 per cent more likely to buy something after reading several positive reviews, demonstrating the power of public customer feedback. Many consumers expect to easily find customer reviews so a lack of public reviews can be a red flag. When it comes to financial products, consumers rely on reviews to reassure them that they’re getting the best deal from the best company. People are becoming less comfortable signing up for credit agreements or insurance policies without some form of evidence that the company can live up to its claims.

2 GAIN EXTERNAL, IMPARTIAL INPUT INTO YOUR PERFORMANCE

While you can collect feedback from your customers internally, using an external company for data collection, or to supplement your own data, can have several benefits. It’s common that a company can have a bias towards how they view their own data, especially when they’ve collected and then analysed it themselves. It’s also possible to overlook areas of opportunity or be over-sensitive to the minutiae of the feedback received. Getting an independent and impartial view of your data offers companies a different perspective and opinion on the data. You’re also able to benefit from the external company’s expertise to make sure you’re getting the most from the data and focusing on the key points from the feedback. At Smart Money People we’re also able to benchmark performance compared to peers at both a product and sector level.

● Products and services meet the need of their target customers

● Products and services offer fair value

● Customers are given the support they need.

For the new requirements, companies need to assess and monitor whether they are delivering good outcomes to customers, with additional reporting required for their Board. To achieve this, collecting customer feedback at each stage of the client lifecycle is critical. Not only does this ensure you’re delivering on your customer’s expectations, but also it also enables you to meet the requirements of the regulator.

At Smart Money People we have been collecting feedback from customers on key FCA outcomes for over eight years and have a wealth of data on the industry to support and supplement your reporting requirements. We’re able to offer you an independent and impartial view of your data.

4 React Quickly To Changes Within Your Business

have loved, liked and disliked about their experience with your company. We believe the only negative review is one not listened to. Don’t view them as a setback and instead consider them as feedback for where you can make improvements and deepen your understanding of your target market.

It’s equally important to consider how you acknowledge and respond to the feedback and reviews you receive. Our research found that 50 per cent of reviewers expect their review to influence readers to use or avoid the business or service, and 45 per cent expect a reply to their review. Your response acts as a public example of how you treat your customers, and what any prospective customers can expect from you, particularly when responding to any criticism.

Reviews on an external review site can also help your business by expanding your reach further. Consumers who haven’t heard of your brand may see your reviews, and then investigate your business as a viable option.

Reviews are a powerful tool for any company to help ensure you’re delivering a great customer experience and outcomes. But this is especially important for financial service providers, who often need to secure some extra credibility before consumers take the plunge.

Some companies may be deterred from encouraging customers to give feedback and leave a review in fear of negative reviews surfacing and potentially damaging their reputation. However, while you can deter consumers from leaving a review on your site, you can’t stop them from sharing with an independent review site, such as Smart Money People. Instead, it’s better to proactively embrace reviews and make sure you’re listening to your customers. It’s almost impossible to please everybody, however, if consumers can see that you’ve responded to a negative review and made positive changes due to it, their trust in your business and its credibility will improve.

This allows companies to get a greater understanding of their data and see their feedback relative to others.

3 COLLECT DATA TO MEET REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS, INCLUDING CONSUMER DUTY

The introduction of the FCA’s new Consumer Duty in July is just around the corner. For those who need a reminder, the new Consumer Duty will require companies to act to deliver good outcomes for customers, and has four outcome rules that require companies to ensure:

● Customers receive communications at the right time, that they can understand

Companies are always looking to make efficiencies and it’s good to question and challenge processes to ensure they’re delivering the best possible customer outcomes. Perhaps your speed of responding to customers on the phone has improved dramatically due to a change you’ve introduced, but are your customers still getting the same level of service from you? Or maybe you’ve introduced an extra step within the application process to help make it easier for your admin team, but it’s created an extra 15 minutes of effort for your customers. Without an always-on customer feedback process, how do you measure and know if these changes have had a positive effect? By listening to what your customers are saying, any changes you introduce to a process can be understood and acted upon quickly, making sure that customers continue to receive the best possible outcomes. This may mean reversing a newly introduced process that has unintended consequences or making a trial process permanent following positive feedback.

5 Coonect With Your Customers

No company is started, or product launched, without the idea of solving a problem or filling a gap in the market for customers. But in an ever-competitive world, if consumers aren’t making new purchases or you’re not retaining customers with repeat purchases, businesses won’t survive.

Collecting customer reviews can be a great way to bridge the gap between your company and your audience. The reviews can provide insight into what customers

6 A Valuable Marketing Tool

Collecting customer feedback publicly via a customer review platform can also improve your company’s online visibility, supporting your existing marketing strategy (for no extra cost!).

Featuring your company’s reviews in your organic search engine listings can help to improve your click-through rate, and in turn your website traffic. This can then help to boost your SEO performance, which keeps your site ranking highly on Google, so it’s a smart choice.

We all know that within the financial services industry companies need to be more considered with their marketing approach, treading carefully when making any promises or claims to potential consumers. This is even more important with new or more innovative products and services, particularly those which may not be regulated (as yet), but still fall under the remit of any rules set by the Advertising Standards Agency. By using customer reviews as a marketing tactic, or even featuring some customers as case studies, prospective customers can learn about your company through genuine customers. These provide reassurance, confidence and build trust in your brand, which can ultimately mean more conversions.

SO, ARE YOU READY TO START LISTENING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS?

Steve Jobs once said: “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to try to sell it. And I’ve made this mistake probably more than anybody else in this room. And I’ve got the scar tissue to prove it. And I know that it’s the case.”

Remember, even if you don’t encourage customer reviews, your competitors probably do. If you’re not already asking your customers to leave a review and collecting that valuable feedback, there’s never been a better time to start.

About Smart Money People

Smart Money People is the UK’s dedicated financial services review site, with over 1.2 million financial product reviews and insights. It uses customer reviews and feedback it collects to provide insights and ideas that will help shape the future of finance. Companies can claim their review page on Smart Money People for free to start collecting and listening to their customer feedback. Smart Money People also offers support to companies with their Consumer Duty requirements through a range of different feedback services. It has over eight years’ worth of data asking customers whether they felt fairly treated, understood product details and thought products were good value for money. It also runs the British Bank Awards, Consumer Credit Awards and Insurance Choice Awards each year. The awards are decided using data collected from the reviews received during the voting period, making them a true reflection of customer feedback and ensure customers are being heard.

Website: smartmoney people.com/business