The difference between success and failure in any digital implementation comes down to three main factors, and they’re all centered around the human element.
The Support Gap
From the outset of any new technology implementation project, financial technologists tend to focus on the vendor assessment, development, and implementation stages of the project. Due to the considerable upfront investment involved, leaders are under immense pressure to succeed, and often face a big rush to launch the solution and go live.
Under the most common scenarios, all efforts are focused on implementing and deploying the solution, leaving little time or resources devoted to creating training and support materials. This stage is often overlooked, left to the final weeks prior to go-live. Sometimes, the training plan is not even created until the technology is already in place.
The result is that the technology is introduced, with major fanfare, prior to most staff being trained. They are left without adequate support materials and processes to help them learn the solution and guide customers in adopting the technology.
The Digital Dilemma
Banking staff are not generally required to maintain accounts or services with their employer. Consequently, many employees never use the digital technology, such as mobile and online banking services, that their customers need to interact with their financial institution and they must support.
Digital technology can be intimidating for anyone, and many people have a natural aversion to learning new technology and processes. Indeed, some frontline banking staff may view new, automated digital solutions as competition for their jobs. If you are able to transfer funds, deposit checks and send funds to family via P2P, what need do you have for a contact center employee?
Despite this, frontline staff remain the key touchpoint for a large segment of the bank’s customers. It is how your customers experience your bank, and their ability to serve your customers’ needs, quickly, efficiently and with a smile, is quite literally the face of your institution. If you don’t train your contact center and branch representatives on your new tech, they won’t be able to support your customers in using it, resulting in frustration and a poor customer experience, even if you offer the same ease and convenient access as your competitors.
The Adoption Aversion
Lastly, it’s a familiar maxim that old habits die hard. New, unfamiliar technology is intimidating, and people are afraid of trying new interfaces and fear making mistakes. This experience is especially fraught when it comes to consumers’ financial lives, which is anxiety-inducing under the best of circumstances. When new, unfamiliar processes and technology are introduced into the mix, people are naturally fearful and resistant to change.
Unfortunately, as with employee training, banks frequently give customer adoption initiatives short shrift. Marketing often produce glitzy, salesy product collateral that talks to the features and benefits of the new technology, while ignoring the learning aspect. Marketing shows off the product but doesn’t permit a test drive, increasing the perceived risk of adoption to the consumer.
