From Scripted Cordiality To Solving Empathy: Not As SIMPLE

In the age of digital finance, customer centricity becomes a key element for success. New, specialised fintech companies are raising the bar in terms of user interfaces and customer experiences. User-friendly applications, simple processes, easy-to-fill forms, customised dashboards… These are all touchpoints between customers and the company that seem well-designed to provide a great customer experience. Traditional financial institutions seem to struggle to catch up and provide the same exceptional customer experiences. This is particularly true when customer interactions and requests go as planned in the company’s theoretical and carefully established customer journeys.

But what happens when things go differently than planned? What happens when a customer has a situation not previously anticipated? When there is a request that goes beyond the scripts that call centres have carefully prepared? Automation works great for scalability, but when things get complex and the customer wants to interact with a human, companies should be ready and able to provide solutions.

When things go as expected, the level of automation that the digital economy brings is great. We are happy, we enjoy the customised experience, and we are ready to let all our friends know how silly they are to still work with a brick-and-mortar traditional financial institution. Yet, the downside of this automated business model becomes clear when an unexpected event happens and clients face a situation that requires a response that goes beyond what was planned. In these cases, the automated process can be incredibly frustrating. No matter how great the technology is, what a customer will remember is that in a time of need the company was not helpful. I thought about this when reading about the incredibly bad and frustrating experience that our Digital Frontiers co-founder, Ignacio Mas, had with Simple, a new online banking provider that clearly failed to provide good customer service. You can read the full story here in this post and in its sequel. It’s a sad but fun read. This story tells us so much about the “dark side” of the new age of digital finance.

By Xavier Martin
Former Divisional Director at Digital Frontiers
Digital Frontiers Institute Alum