In the positions where the workers are out of office and on the go most of the time, the idea of mobilization soon emerges. But it may still come as a surprise that mobile tools and devices can help elsewhere, too, to increase client engagement and enhance the experience – like in retail banking.
Lost in Conversation
There are many steps in the retail banking sales process where it could be a demand for increased effectiveness. During a personal meeting, the agent might miss several opportunities to get to know the client and give them a more precise, more tailored offer.
There is, for example, one of the first steps of a personal consultation, when the agent tries to find out as much as possible about the client’s financial situation. The conversation will eventually shed light on the type of advice the client needs, considering their existing or non-existent savings (credit-focused or savings-focused), but the mid-term and long-term plans usually remain unexplored. As a consequence, financial institutions lose billions by not knowing the client enough.
With the current administration practices, documenting “hints” is accidental and depends on the preparedness of the agent. The management, on the other hand, only has limited possibilities to intervene in the process. They mostly have to rely on the onboarding and training period to get their messages through or suggest a necessary change while controlling productivity.
There is a problem with transparency, too. During the necessary data registration process, the retail banking agents don’t use systems that could allow them to share the registered information with the client (e.g., financial snapshot or sending a colorful PDF about the suggested products), and there is no possibility to make the necessary calculations together. It makes winning the trust of the “always-on” clients, and the fact that the agents only send out the quotes days or weeks later doesn’t help either.
Value for the Client
An application that was developed keeping in mind the priorities of personal sales meetings helps to complete the consultation and keep it transparent. A piece of software that serves as a central access point for the official documents, contracts, as well as the product brochures, client databases or quote calculators, will make it easier for both the consultant and client, as well as shorten the sales cycle. Such an application is a useful tool for the sales managers, too, to coordinate teamwork and to better distribute the available resources.
Because of the integration with internal legacy systems, many would think it a desktop application is the solution. But the surprising truth is that a tablet application is a way more modern sales tool, and it is also easier to implement. When using a tablet, the agent and the client sit next to each other, the client is involved in the sales process, increasing its effectiveness.
The application can easily integrate internal systems, so it can contain all the necessary information and also make it available to the client immediately or as an attachment of a follow-up email. If it’s a returning client, some of the data can be accessed from the database, so it reduces the administration. Even the calculators can be used outside of the corporate website, by accessing it directly from the application, and print a contract right on site if the client accepts the quote.
Financial Planning as an Experience
Using a mobile application in retail banking radically transforms the current processes without making them more difficult. Due to the smooth operation, the agents are happy to incorporate the tool into their workflows. The client will experience a new way of banking: during a personal meeting, sitting next to the agent, they can be active participants of the financial planning – a feature that builds trust and increases satisfaction.
By accessing the documents quickly, the agent can get from the first registration of data to the contract, and they can also complete their administration duties without paper. Meanwhile, the managers can control all steps of the process, keep the information up-to-date, and receive automatic reports. The sales agents can always see in the application what meetings they have and when do they have to follow up with a particular client.
According to SCOLVO’s industry-specific experience, the mobile sales enablement tool has dramatically increased task management, both on a team as on a personal level. The productivity of the banks has increased in general, with the help of the features accessible through the tablet and due to the modern sales tool. Further advantages that financial institutions mentioned included the seamless data flow, a proper CRM-usage, current reports, and paperless processes.
SCOLVO Sales – The ultimate selling machine for financial institutions has arrived:
