Do your customers embrace you as an ally? …or tolerate you as a necessity?

Think about an industry such as financial services. Most people need to rely on banking to manage and grow their money, because at some point the hiding-it-under-the-mattress strategy doesn’t scale up. But for many customers, banking isn’t fun or inspiring; it’s just something they have to do.

But what if their experience IS inspiring and engaging? What would that mean for a bank’s profitability?

3 ROI wins from an engaging customer experience

Creating an experience that builds buy-in with customers can give them a sense of ownership and accountability to your success as well as theirs. When your customers can see that you listen, understand and respond to their needs, you create valuable opportunities to engage them more fully to build lasting, profitable relationships.

Three strategic gains you may see include:

  • Stronger brand loyalty – Lifetime customers means you grow as they grow, which is especially important in the small business, wholesale, and wealth management segments.
  • Increased cross-selling potential – Engaged customers are more open to exploring additional products and services and learning new ways they can benefit with your business.
  • Powerful word-of mouth marketing – Earning buy-in with customers can earn your business a highly prized free resource:  people say great things about you and recommend you to others.

3 steps to building customer buy-in

Sounds great – but how do you do it? There’s no single answer but there are smart solutions. To help you get started, here are three key things to consider:

  • Develop a Voice of the Customer program to really understand what your customers think and want –and listen across all channels and lines of business so you get a complete picture.
  • Plan a customer experience strategy that maps to your customer’s journey, i.e., where they are now and where they want to go over time.
  • Deliver effective communications that ensure customers feel heard, understood, and valued. Provide opportunities for engaging their ideas and exploring their goals to get them actively interested in growing their business relationship with you.

Building buy-in with customers isn’t just about customer satisfaction –it’s about creating powerful alliances that support both of you for the near and long term. It all starts with deeply knowing what customers want and then giving them an experience that will benefit your business as well.