The introduction of Consumer Duty has shaken the Financial Services and Insurance (FS&I) landscape like never before. The demand for clear and transparent customer communications is no longer a choice – it’s a necessity. To help your FS&I organisation navigate this shifting landscape, we’ve extracted the essential takeaways from our recent Fairer Finance Report, highlighting what it takes to transform and deliver customer communications with clarity and excellence.
1. Choice at every touchpoint
To stand out in a highly competitive market, FS&I organisations must make customer choice a top priority. Whether it’s making it easy for customers to switch or cancel services, or embedding two-way functionality in your campaigns, providing a range of options is essential. This might include incorporating QR codes in printed materials, offering self-service portals, and simplifying document retrieval. The more choices you offer, the easier it becomes for customers to engage and make decisions.
2. Accessible and timely support
Customers now expect real-time support as standard. The speed of your response can make or break a deal; making customers wait risks losing them to competitors. FS&I organisations need to provide support through various channels, from traditional printed materials to websites, apps, and emails. Furthermore, during testing times like the current cost-of-living crisis, the support must be easy to understand, convenient and good enough to reduce customer inquiries.
3. Clear and appropriate information
Customers crave information that helps them make sound financial decisions. Designing your communications based on behavioural data ensures that the key information doesn’t get lost in a sea of jargon. The best approach involves real-time, integrated omnichannel communications. This means reaching out to customers at the right time, in the right way, with the right message, leading to the right outcome. It’s all about delivering the information they need when they need it.
4. Personalisation through data
Understanding your customers’ specific financial needs is paramount. Data provides you with the required insights to create tailored product and service communications for each individual. Analytics help you grasp their world, allowing you to improve communication and enhance the overall customer experience. By harnessing data effectively, your organisation can provide a more personalised service that caters to an individual’s financial situation and aspirations.
5. Adopt fair play policies
Using data to understand the customer from the outset enables tailored product and service offerings. Customers should be made well aware of what they’re buying and why it’s relevant to them. By embracing data-driven, targeted communications, your FS&I firm not only increases its ROI but it also gives you the option to pass on the savings to the customer, making your offerings more attractive and you more trustworthy. This one is hard to ignore.
Consumer Duty is reshaping the FS&I landscape. While adapting to these new rules may seem challenging, it’s an opportunity and a challenge to embrace. The rewards are clear: a competitive advantage in a tough-fought marketplace. With more personalised, customer-centric campaigns, better service, and a fairer deal for everyone, successfully transitioning to delivering clear and engaging customer communications is a duty worth fulfilling.
So, are you ready to embrace change and redefine how you communicate with your customers?
Start your journey to clarity and success by downloading our report today.
Our new report Fairer Finance, provides insights and guidance to FS&I teams on preparing for the future & examines how to excel in consumer duty communications.
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