Today, personalization reigns supreme. According to Deloitte, about half of Gen Zers and millennials find personalized experiences very or extremely important in their banking and business relationships—an emphasis that’s only increased over the past few years.
Personalization isn’t about simply adding a first name to an email; it’s about creating a real connection. Fortunately, relationship banking is what community banks do best. Your customers choose to bank with you because you create a personal experience for them, and that same connected touch should flow through your digital solutions.
With technology solutions geared to support a more customized experience, community banks have new tools in their arsenal to enhance their customer relationships. But to ensure it feels authentic to the customer, community banks must answer three important questions before onboarding and deploying a new personalization technology:
Who are the customers we are targeting? Audiences differ, and as you look to diversify your clientele, it may be true that the customers you’re trying to retain don’t want the same experiences as those you want to attract. Build out the personas of your target audiences and understand who those customers are and what services they want. It will help you create and market offerings that speak directly to their needs.
What does the data say about what my customers need? I’ve said this before, but the answers to many of your marketing questions lie within your existing data. Where do your customers send money every month? Are there products that you can introduce that speak to these behaviors and deepen connections with them? Consider tailored rewards products: 73% of consumers want loyalty program rewards that feel personalized, according to Deloitte.
Are we available when and where they need us? If you’re going to create a true relationship with any customer, there has to be a two-way dialogue that supports that connection. Deloitte’s survey found that 57% of consumers want personalized customer support through a mobile app. But, if you enable this in the digital realm, you’d better be ready to respond. Your customers want to know they are being heard, and you have to walk the talk in the digital realm to ensure they are.
Relationship banking is the bread and butter of community banking and is what we do best. Now, we just need to extend those efforts to ensure our customers feel as seen and heard in the digital environment as they do in the physical one to continue growing. It’s about putting the “person” in personalized banking, one customer experience at a time.
