Blog: Digital Communication in 2020? Virtual branches and a proactive approach

High-quality digital communication is one of the fundamental building blocks in the success of virtually any company or institution, and of course banks are no exception. But communicating precisely and effectively is not easy, because the modern age has brought not only many opportunities but also many different challenges. One of them is the complicated situation in the labor market, where quality people are difficult to find and have high expectations. Employers need to be able to adapt their processes and offer them the high degree of flexibility they require. Fortunately, high-quality digital solutions can also help.

The arrival of the young generation of so-called millennials is transforming and spurring new trends in the labor market. Banks customer support teams are pushing for changes in work structures, such as the freedom to work when and where they want. Flexibility is something that both bank customers and employees want, and BSC has responded to that demand by introducing the concept of digital affiliates, a digital solution that allows you to build virtual, decentralized customer support centers.

Thanks to the virtual branch system, the bank can easily coordinate and maximize the efficiency of its customer support agents. The system allows requests to be automatically assigned only to agents who have identified themselves as available and even further, is able to direct requests according to the special expertise of the individual team members Questions and requests will always come only to those team members who are actually available and who are, more importantly, able to solve the problem quickly and efficiently.

Additionally, this system, part of the BSC Digital Bank OS “Communications” component, can coordinate all relevant communication channels and integrate them into a single stream. Clients have been increasingly using new and different channels to communicate with banks. Some of the most popular are the asynchronous channels, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram or Apple Business Chat. The main advantage of these channels is that you can see the history of the whole conversation and respond whenever you have time, whether you are queueing in a shop or sitting on a bus.

But the key to customer satisfaction and loyalty is not just the ability to passively solve a client’s immediate needs. A proactive approach to the customer is key, because a satisfied customer is one whose needs the bank understands so well that solutions can be offered before the customer realizes he needs it. In the past, the main source of proactivity was a personal banker who knew his client and was able to offer him relevant products and solutions at the branch, but these days it is vital to move proactive communication to the digital environment.

The Digital Bank OS enables this shift to proactive communication through a series of digital tools using both artificial intelligence and machine learning technology. Today’s bank must be able to understand its clients perfectly, analyze their habits, take into account their socio-economic status and, moreover, predict and model their needs.

Today, modern banks must be able to successfully manage a client’s entire customer path. The so-called “Customer Journey” describes the behavior of a client at various stages during the use of the service, detailing the whole decision-making process from the initial purchase, to identifying needs and problems and their corresponding services and solutions. However, the journey does not end there and continues by helping the client familiarize himself with the service and the different ways it can be used all the way through solving any problems that may arise with high-quality, flexible customer care. The customer journey can start with a friend’s recommendation, an advert or an intriguing social media post. Most importantly it has the potential to last for many years if handled well.

Banks are increasingly realizing the importance of the “Customer Journey”. It is not enough to have high quality individual products, it is also necessary to recognize and understand how customers use them, what kind of needs they have at what stage of life, how they prefer to solve problems and so on. The institution earns customer loyalty only by successfully completing the client’s entire customer path and always being an empathic partner in addressing his needs.

In the future, the customer will want to have one institution, which he has full confidence in, to solve his specific problem from start to finish. One could therefore come to a single point of contact and, from start to finish, arrange a real estate deal – from finding a specific flat and assessing its real value, through securing a mortgage and insurance, to transferring and properly recording ownership in the land registry. The contact point could be a bank that has sufficient resources, sufficient penetration and know-how and, above all, the necessary confidence and proper tools to provide this kind of comprehensive service.

To do this, the bank must know their clients perfectly, understand their needs and be able to offer them a solution using digital communication. Only in this way will the bank be able to provide long-term satisfaction and ensure their loyalty, which is absolutely crucial nowadays when it is so easy to switch banking service providers. In addition, surveys show that customers are very interested in truly relevant offers, and two-thirds of them are willing to share more personal data if it results in more meaningful communication with greater relevance to their actual needs.

About the Author

@Lubomír Tomány
Product Manager, BSC

Lubomír Tomány is responsible for the product roadmap of Digital Bank OS, with which BSC has come to dominate both the domestic and international markets, making it a key player in the field of banking sector digitisation.