Omni-channel to Omni-digital: The New Normal

PwC's 2017 Digital Banking Consumer Survey summary, '(Don't) take it to the bank: What customers want in the digital age,' proposes a new segment of consumers they've called 'omni-digital.' They define omni-digital customers as those who 'don't use physical channels like branches or call centers to interact with their financial institutions.' Their survey showed that 46% of consumers are now using digital channels only - a big difference from the 27% of consumers that was shown in 2012. With 60% of smartphone users employing mobile banking, this study shows that ready access to digital channels is becoming increasingly necessary.

The omni-channel experience has been growing steadily in importance with the rise of digital engagement. There's no question now that customers want access to their financial information conveniently and immediately. And with 'omni-digital' consumers becoming the standard, digital channels have to be responsive and developed enough to provide the service these people need.

As Bryan Sachdeva here at NexJ has pointed out in previous blogs, and as PwC mentions in their report, there is a new 'normal' in financial interactions. The use of physical branches and call centres, while still important, is shrinking. Today, only about a third of customers will use all of a bank's platforms.

NexJ provides a solution for this new 'normal' that is based on the customer experience. As such, NexJ has known (and discussed!) that digital channels were becoming key to the quality of customer experience for some time, and has been providing ways for financial services companies to undergo a digital transformation. With the rising importance of digital engagement, financial institutions need to provide quality digital service, while preparing for future growth and changes.

So how do you plan for the new 'normal?' The best way is to let customers direct their journey and give them the ability to interact in the way they want, when they want. In Bryan's blog, 'Mastering Customer Engagement, Part 1,' he offers the following magic keys to sfduccessful digital customer engagement, or successful omni-digital engagement:

• make each interaction painless and productive for both the customer and the advisor,
• let customers interact with you when, where, and how they want,
• connect the dots of each interaction to understand the journey across channels, and
• direct customers toward a destination using insight-producing analytics.

Consider how your institution has been adapting to the new 'normal.' Are you prepared for omni-digital interaction and the decreasing importance of physical channels? Is your organization ready for the future of customer engagement? In my next blog, we'll discuss how you can use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve customer engagement across channels to increase cross-selling and upselling.