Today's consumers expect connected and personalized interactions as standard, and the best finance firms can do this while retaining customer loyalty.

In order to achieve positive outcomes during the more sensitive stages of the customer journey, such as collections and bill reminders, it is essential to build trust and provide support to customers at the right place and time.

For financial services firms, delivering personalized communications is fast becoming a competitive necessity. In fact, a recent study by J.D. Power found that 78% of respondents would continue using their bank if they received personalized support.

But there's a disconnect to address-only 53% of traditional banks believe they are truly customer-centric compared to 80% of digital-native fintech organizations. And it's a gap that will widen until firms empower their employees to create and deliver customized and compassionate experiences at scale.

In this blog, we will explore what's possible when you use Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) solutions to create personalized customer communication journeys to encourage timely payments and help customers feel supported rather than chased.

Deliver compassionate support on any channel

Financial services firms face pressure from increasingly complex regulations such as the Consumer Credit Act (CCA), GDPR, and PSD2. These regulations require organizations to take measures to safeguard customer data and lending rights. But firms must also take extra care to protect customers from financial crises-especially during times of economic uncertainty.

With 67% of Americans worried about the cost of living, and the global cost living increasing by 8% in 2022 alone, millions of consumers around the world are having to dip into savings or cut back on spending. And for many others, that can mean taking out new lines of credit or reassessing how and when they repay past receivables.

To support customers through this difficult time-and minimize the risk of revenue loss-it pays to create empathetic journeys using automated alerts, reminders, and interactive two-way chats based on contextual triggers. But handling these challenging customer interactions is difficult if you don't have the latest tools available.

Many financial services firms are turning to easy-to-use cloud CPaaS solutions like Webex Connect to build engaging customer journeys using drag-and-drop communication flow builders. And by integrating with the channels your customers use the most, these solutions can help you direct interactions so they move seamlessly from one channel to another.

Plus, by using Natural Language Processing (NLP), Natural Language Understanding (NLU), and AI-powered automation, you can create chatbots to quickly fulfill customer requests. You can also connect your chatbot to external systems to ensure they can pull in relevant customer details, check appointment availability, and other value-adding insights.

When implemented effectively, this saves valuable agent time better spent on more sensitive and financially lucrative interactions and reduces operating costs by removing the need to hire additional teams to field routine customer interactions.

Should your service agents need to take over from a chatbot or contact a customer, they can use customer engagement applications as part of your CPaaS solution. This provides a single dashboard for total visibility over all past and present interactions, including customer details, advanced reporting, and multichannel queuing.

But what does this look like in context? Here's how your CPaaS solution can improve agent efficiency and nurture trust when handling sensitive economic interactions.

Reduce risk and build trust with 'promise-to-pay' alerts

Let's face it, customers can be intimidated by collections, and even caught off-guard by sudden requests for payment if they haven't been kept in the loop.

By sending automated 'call warm up' alerts ahead of time, you can help customers better prepare for upcoming payment collections and consultations. Webex CPaaS Solutions also let your service agents use NLP and NLU so customers can confirm or reschedule the call date via text chat, or talk to a live agent in channel.

For example, you may send them a variation of the following message, "We are going to call you soon on [DATE]. Is this a good time for you, or would you like to reschedule? Reply YES to rearrange the call, or AGENT to speak to a live assistant."

Likewise, our 'promise-to-pay' multichannel program can automate payment reminders and provide customers with the option to pay in-channel, confirm they intend to pay in the next seven days, defer the payment, or contact a live agent.

Of course, no one customer is the same, and while some may respond immediately, others may miss multiple payments or ignore your alerts altogether. That's why your CPaaS solution personalizes each interaction based on customer profile data, such as their preferred channel, past engagements, and vulnerability. You can also perform A/B testing by experimenting with different language to see what gets the best results.

For example, if a customer misses multiple payments, it may send them more frequent reminders or offer access to professional financial management resources. What's more, Webex Connect can integrate with the latest in-channel payment solutions so customers can pay without leaving the chat or direct them to their preferred payment method.

And it works too. Our research shows that 85% of respondents made a payment within seven days after introducing an interactive SMS promise-to-pay scheme. And SMS call warm-up messages saw first-time pick-up rates increase from 20-30% to 50-60%.

Join the finance leaders transforming the customer journey

It's time to promote flexibility and empower your employees with the tools and insights they need to orchestrate powerful, empathetic customer journeys.

And with our simple 'promise-to-pay' solution, you can increase cash flow, reduce risk, decrease call center costs, and nurture trust through intelligent automation and flexible customer interactions.

To learn more, please explore our Webex CPaaS Solutions and financial services support page, or get in touch with one of our experts.