Four out of five consumers want the companies they do business with to customize their experience based on what the company knows about them, according to new research from global Fintech leader Broadridge. That said, only 28% of consumers say that companies are “doing great” at customizing their experiences based on the data these companies have. I spoke with Matt Swain, Head of Communications Insights & Experience at Broadridge, to better understand what companies can do in this current economic environment to stand out from their peers when it comes to customer experience (CX).

Gary Drenik: What CX and communications trends have the last five years of your research revealed?

Matt Swain: Perhaps the most telling – and concerning – trend to emerge through our research has been that consumers have indicated growing dissatisfaction with the experiences companies are providing. The sentiment has steadily increased, nearly doubling over the last five years from 35% to now 69% of consumers feeling that most of the companies they do business with need to improve the CX they provide. We have also found that the communications that a company sends to its customers – think bills, statements, letters, notices, as well as marketing, informational, and regulatory materials – are key to how they perceive a company’s CX and innovation. We also continue to see diverse preferences for how consumers want to interact with companies. For instance, many consumers find that having a simple way to interact with companies across channels is particularly important to their overall experience, and yet they don’t believe that companies are delivering on that.

Drenik: How has the current economic environment and/or residual impact of the pandemic influenced CX expectations?

Swain: It’s a great question. We attribute the increase in expectations to the customer/company relationships being put through a stress test during the pandemic – and certainly during the more recent economic downturn. For instance, we found that 65% of consumers have cut spending with companies that haven’t met their CX standards amid ongoing economic uncertainty. This theme of the more discerning customer is also supported by a recent Prosper Insights & Analytics survey, which uncovered that as a result of the current economic environment, 30% of consumers are doing more comparative online shopping. While companies need to be conscious of the current economic environment, they also cannot stay idle when others around them are investing to create better CX across channels.

Drenik: What will it take from companies to get paper-loving consumers to go fully digital?

Swain: You’re not the first person to ask this question! We have clients that are very focused on increasing their paperless communications, with cost savings being a key driver. In order to notably increase their paperless rates, organizations need to offer a compelling reason to make the switch. For instance, this year, we found that 82% of consumers who had not yet gone paperless would do so if the digital experience was more engaging – up from 71% in 2022. This is the kind of initiative that a whole organization can get behind because they will realize cost savings, as well as increase customer satisfaction and engagement. I should also note, though, that we need to be realistic that some people just really want to hold onto paper. It goes back to the importance of a company having an omni-channel strategy. We encourage clients to be realistic about the diversity of customer preferences and to optimize their communications through each channel. Recurring communications, like bills and statements, serve as that monthly appointment to engage with a customer!

Drenik: Are CX demands different across generations? If so, how can companies tailor their communications offerings to meet those demands?

Swain: We’ve certainly seen differences across generations. For instance, younger generations tend to embrace technology more readily than older generations. Prosper Insights & Analytics research, for example, found that one-third of adults use a smartphone for scanning QR codes – with Gen-Z doing so 36% of the time compared with Baby Boomers at 31%. We asked consumers specifically about their level of interest in scanning QR codes on their printed bills and statements to better engage with a company. Similarly, Gen-Z and Baby Boomers are at opposite ends of the spectrum (89% and 47%, respectively). Another area where generational differences come through is in communications preferences. For example, some investors prefer to receive text messages from their advisors with market/portfolio updates while others do not. This preference is more popular amongst Millennials (67%) compared to Boomers (37%). I should also note that sometimes the generational differences are negligible. We saw that in the Prosper Insights & Analytics data relative to 52% of adults using smartphones in banking, and there only being a 8-percentage point difference between Gen-Z (53%) and Baby Boomers (45%).

As for how companies can tailor their offerings to meet demands, one way is simply providing options for how customers can engage with your company and allow them to set – and act on – their preferences. Another approach is to enable your customers to personalize their experience. In the investment space, for instance, we found about three quarters of investors don’t like how they receive disparate communications. They instead would prefer a more personalized summary communication that provides an update on performance related to their goals, an overview of key activities, recommendations, and links to the underlying documents.

Drenik: “Digital transformation” is a major buzzword across sectors right now. How can these companies go from buzzword to actualization and what benefits does this bring to consumers?

Swain: It certainly is a far-reaching term. Let me address it with an example from a wealth communication’s and CX perspective. Through the recent launch of our Wealth InFocus experience, we are helping our wealth clients transform experiences by taking an investor-centric approach to consolidating, aggregating, and presenting the most important information to investors across various account and regulatory communications – that is, digitally transforming the investor experience. With this shift, clients are able to provide new value to investors and advisors, while also reducing costs, increasing NPS, and improving the investor-advisor relationship with a simpler and more intuitive experience.

Drenik: What CX trends do you expect to see more of in 2023 and beyond?

Swain: Companies are realizing they need to embrace new tools and technologies to keep pace with evolving CX expectations. We asked consumers what leaders in CX do better than others. They’re feedback was that leaders in CX make it easy to navigate account details online, communicate clearly, make it easy to talk to a real person, send notifications when there’s something important to look at, and also allow customers to select how they want to receive communications.

For our clients that are focused on future-proofing their CX, these are the areas they are prioritizing, enabling them to create unique next-gen experiences while also emulating best practices from companies in other industries.

Drenik: Thanks, Matt, for a glimpse into Broadridge’s insights for how companies should approach CX. It was great to sit down with you, and I look forward to seeing the annual Broadridge CX and Communications Consumer Insights results!

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