Financial institutions (FIs) are at a crossroads, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. The primary issues facing FIs revolve around digital transformation and customer centricity. While fintech companies crop up to meet niche consumer needs and take customers, banks face an uphill battle against legacy systems, siloed lines of business and rapidly evolving customer expectations.

For FIs that choose to stay on their traditional legacy trajectory, the prospects of growth and market dominance look grim. But for those who take a turn, who welcome change and adaptation, there is a significant opportunity to improve profitability, customer experience and efficiency.

Looking Through a New Lens

For many FIs, one of the primary goals has been increasing “share of wallet”. Companies want to be the primary provider of DDA products, credit products, secured loans, mortgages and more. There are instances of companies where the definition of success is providing a specific numbers of accounts/products per customer. While this is good for the company, it begs the question: Is it good for the consumer?

FIs that look at this through the lens of customer centricity will take another approach. These organizations are looking to increase their “share of lifestyle” for each individual. These FIs are approaching customer relationships with the attitude that they can, and will, provide excellent service for all aspects of someone’s financial life.

FIs that do this, and do it well, demonstrate that they know their customers and that they do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. They recognize that a recent Millennial college graduate does not have the same financial reality as a Baby Boomer nearing retirement, and they will pitch products and services that are relevant to those unique customer segments.

In order to succeed at this approach, FIs need to have a holistic view of their customer. One-sided pictures of customers from individual lines of business do not allow companies to understand a customer or his/her lifestyle. The best approach is one that uses an enterprise-level view to smash siloes of business, provide a common platform for accessing customer data and enable immediate connections in the micro-moment of customer engagement.

Committing to Customers with Enterprise Cross-Sell®

How can FIs achieve that goal of intimate customer knowledge, across the enterprise, in real time? The answer: Enterprise Cross-Sell® from Zoot.

Using Enterprise Cross-Sell, organizations have the ability to tie together previously disparate lines of business in a single, enterprise-level platform. This opens doors to knowledge about a customer that may have been locked before, and helps companies identify what is the next best step for an individual rather than a broad cohort of customers or prospects.

With that platform in place, FIs have a way to elevate their understanding and their view above the specific product or line of business. Companies can use real time data from internal and external sources to help identify the next best step for a single customer, and then engage with that customer on the channel of their choice.

This approach also helps meet changing customer expectations. In an era when companies like Amazon are able to predict the next best products for someone, financial institutions need to be able to engage with personalized product and service offers. Using a single platform to inform an organization’s understanding of a person allows them to market to the individual, improving experiences at the same time.

Finally, companies using Enterprise Cross-Sell® also reap organizational benefits. Improved access to data, shared expense structures and efficiency increases through real time data connections are only three of a long list of benefits that clients can enjoy.

At the end of the day, a “cross-sell” approach to customer relationships does not have to be a pushy or ill-informed strategy. With access to data across the organization, an FI can create a relationship that delivers value for the consumer while delivering profitability for the company.