Way back in 2000 B.C, banking originated when merchants began loaning grains to farmers, in return for deposits. Since then, banking has evolved into an integral part of civilization, across geographies and cultures. Modern day banking, however, has realized that banking is not just about money transactions anymore. Today, with many money handling and payment technologies, the way people bank has undergone a revolutionary change. With customer centricity being the key, a banking CRM has become the modern banker’s cohort.
Why do banks need digital transformation?
Previously, banking involved a lot of planning, long queues, and dealing with an irritated teller, to withdraw your own money. But, now, with people more digitally aware, banks have slowly started to digitize their processes as well. 86% of banks believe that going digital will change the economics and competitive landscape in modern banking. With the advent of internet and mobile banking, they have successfully made it easier for customers to transact without having to visit an actual bank.
Banks deal with a lot of data on a daily basis. This includes customer information, transactions, loan applications, Demat accounts, trading information, and even bancassurance related data. It is nearly impossible for banks to process and understand this data manually without a digital tool helping them out. In the quest for a customer-focused business, banks are slowly adapting CRMs that help them to identify selling points that would not be possible otherwise.
Why a Banking CRM?
The modern banking customer is spoilt for choices when it comes to choosing the right bank. Loyalty and brand names play a very small role in this process. With every bank offering discounts on their services right from mortgages, credit cards, savings accounts and more, customers go with the option that makes the most sense to them.
A banking CRM will keep you notified of these selling points and help you position your bank’s offerings in such a way, that your customer base is on a continual rise. Here are some ways in which a banking CRM can boost your conversion rates.
1. Enable flow of data from all sources
As a bank, you might have various online and offline sources from which you get your customers. This could be your website’s visitors, cold outreach, paid ads, social media, referrals, email campaigns or through your third party vendors. Your banking CRM should help you to capture all these leads that are interested in all your products in one platform. This way, you will ensure that none of your prospective clients are missed out on.
2. Handle multiple products/teams
As we already discussed before, a bank is not just about monetary transactions anymore. They now have a portfolio of different products, with different teams servicing each of these verticals. When you have multiple teams/products, it is essential that all of them work towards a common goal. For this, all the teams need to have a transparent system in place. A banking CRM can help you do just that if configured properly.
3. Automate qualification of prospects
When it comes to loan dispersals, it is very important for banks to verify that their prospect is genuinely interested in applying for a loan. Banks usually employ tele-callers who call the applicant asking for confirmation. But, this is a long and manual and sometimes prone to human error. A good banking CRM, on the other hand, can automate the entire process, making the lives of bankers and their telecalling teams much simpler.
Additionally, banks also need to verify if a person is eligible to receive the loan he has applied for. Different banks have different criteria, such as their credit score, income, means of employment etc. With the help of a CRM, you can auto-qualify your leads for loans, and then distribute them to your relationship managers accordingly.
4. Build lasting relationships with timely communication
To keep your prospects interested, it is very important to be in constant touch with them. Your CRM can help you design customer journeys, and depending on certain actions, you can trigger automated emails to them. You can also design dynamic templates, that send offers based on their website activity.
You can also set up instant alerts when your lead performs a sales-friendly activity. For example, if your prospect starts filling your loan application, but then abandons it halfway, you can either send them an automated email asking them to complete or alert the appropriate salesperson, so that they can manually follow up with them.
5. Empower your call center teams
Call center teams are one of the most integral cogs in any banks process. They help both in bringing in new customers as well as helping solve the queries of existing customers. When this is the case, it is imperative that you call center team is given the right tools to carry out this task. Automatic lead distribution, instant call notifications, and complete lead history are some features that will make your banking CRM ideal for your call center team.
6. Unify your entire process in a single platform
Every bank has its own process set in place. This means that the CRM that they choose should be capable of conforming to these process depending on the need. The banking CRM should be easily customizable, without the need for complex coding and complicated integrations.
7. Identify cross-sell/upsell opportunities
The best thing about banks is that most products are inter-related, which means that you can sell a customer more than one product. With the right CRM, you can pick up on these sales cues and help your team pitch in a relevant product that will benefit the customer. For example, if you see that your savings account customer has a tendency to spend a lot on movies, then your team can offer him a credit card that offers discounts on movies.
8. Provide mobile access to your field teams
In all this, you should not forget your feet-on-street team, that goes out into the field. Your banking CRM should be able to work on mobile devices as well as desktops. This way, your field team can easily access a lead’s history to make a relevant pitch or identify upsell opportunities. Additionally, by having an instant document verification system on the mobile app, you will make processing a loan application much faster.
9. Get complete and detailed reports
TImely and detailed reports help banks keep adrift of the success of their sales processes. They can figure out which product is raking in more money, at which geography and through which relationship manager. This way they can keep a track of what is working for them and what is not. A significant rise in loan dispersals in one geography can point to a positive impact, and they can easily find out why. Or if there is a drop in credit card purchases, they can try offering ones with more discounts.
Embracing digital transformation, with an intent to grow is the key for modern banks. A banking CRM is just the answer to your solutions. Look for a CRM that fulfills all the above criteria and more. Powerful integrations with your other banking tools will only ensure that all your systems work together as one.
(Check out how LeadSquared’s CRM can help you digitally transform your bank)
