By: Mike Horrocks
It has been over a year that in Zuccotti Park the Occupy Wall Street crowd made their voices heard. At the anniversary point of that movement, there has been a lot of debate on if the protest has fizzled away or is still alive and planning its next step. Either way, it cannot be ignored that it did raise a voice in how consumers view their financial institutions and what actions they are willing to take i.e. “Bank Transfer Day”.
In today’s market customer risk management must be balanced with retention strategies. For example, here at Experian we value the voice of our clients and prospects and I personally lead our win/loss analysis efforts. The feedback we get from our customers is priceless. In a recent American Banker article, some great examples were given on how tuning into the voice of the consumer can turn into new business and an expanded market footprint.
Some consumers however will do their talking by looking at other financial institutions or by slowly (or maybe rapidly) using your institution’s services less and less. Technology Credit Union saw great results when they utilized retention triggers off of the credit data to get back out in front of their members with meaningful offers. Maximizing the impact of internal data and spotting the customer-focused trends that can help with retention is even a better approach, since that data is taken at the “account on-us” level and can help stop risks before the customer starts to walk out the door.
Phillip Knight, the founder of Nike once said, “My job is to listen to ideas”. Your customers have some of the best ideas on how they can be retained and not lost to the competitors. So, think how you can listen to the voice and the actions of your customers better, before they leave and take a walk in the park.
