Customer Experience Matters

Being able to buy tickets online has been around for a while now, so surely there are enough clever people around to find an alternative and better way to buy high demand tickets. Take my experience as an example in trying to buy a Spurs season ticket, I was logged into my Spurs ticketing account and as it turned to 10.59am, I started pressing refresh. Suddenly a new page appeared and I could select various pricing options. I started methodically from the top, but each time it said sold out, I then started losing track of what I had previously tried and despair started to creep in…. We will return to this story later..

Needless to say customer experience whether that’s digitally, face to face or over the phone is vitally important and can be where smaller financial institutions can differentiate themselves especially when competing on price or credit is not an option. Therefore, my focus this month is on two news items that are looking at how the customer experience can be improved both from a provider perspective and via a digital agency specialising in this area.

More2life guarantee that the lender will compensate customers £500 if it takes longer than 14 working days to issue a loan offer from the date of application with the Service Promise will be offered through more2life’s end-to-end online processing portal.

I applaud them on the simplicity of the compensation offer and on the face of it, it seems to be a great example of putting their money where their mouth is. However, as an old marketer, I am slightly disappointed that despite this offer starting for new applications received from 13th February, there is no mention of the Promise on the website (not even in the Newsroom) and unlike many lenders, there are no KPIs listed in terms of service turnarounds for applications, DIPs etc., so the transparency of the guarantee needs some work in my view. Despite this, the initiative is laudable and a few minor tweaks on the website will surely make it one of the core elements of their proposition to customers and brokers.

My second story this month comes from Dock9, a digital business solutions agency. I will declare that they are one of my clients, but what they have launched this month I feel warrants a mention, as they have launched a website and portal audit service specifically aimed at the mortgage sector.

It helps mortgage lenders, brokers, servicers and software platforms undertake controlled lab tests and benchmark against standardised metrics developed for the mortgage sector. The outcome of the audit is a ‘Usability Report’ that documents the findings, recommendations and insights that can form the “engine” of digital transformation.

With a significant proportion of any marketing budget being spent on digital whether that’s social, SEO, PPC or simple display advertising, the need to constantly review and independently audit the customers digital experience (whether that’s the end customer or the broker) seems obvious enough. Despite this, I know from my own experience in running marketing for lenders, brokers and other suppliers to the industry, I never gave any of my sites an MOT that Dock9 recommend.

More2life edge it this month, as their proposition offers something now if they don’t meet the standard they have set themselves, but both stories underline how important it is to constantly improve and review the experience provided to customers.

The conclusion of the story? Yes, I did manage to get a Spurs season ticket in the end via the online system, is that good news and a great customer experience? I’ll let you decide…