Leading with empathy: delivering a compassionate customer experience

The past year has seen financial and social-shockwaves roll across the globe: little wonder, then, that the plight of vulnerable customers has rocketed up regulators’ agendas, with the US Federal Reserve System conducting research into the financial health of consumers and communities, and the UK’s FCA publishing a consultation on vulnerable customers. Now, more than ever, is the time for banks and insurers to proactively demonstrate empathy, fairness and flexibility throughout the customer experience.

Discussion

• The impact of global disruption: how have the instances and rates of economic hardship changed and how are they likely to continue to shift?
• Acting with speed and care: how successful have financial organisations been so far in proactively recognising and understanding customers facing economic hardship?
• Human, digital, hybrid: how important is the human touch for the vulnerable? Do digital-first communications pose barriers for customers in vulnerable situations?
• Exploring AI and ML: how can banks and insurers use digital capabilities to track customer communications in real time and provide a more personalised and compassionate response?
• Improving insight: how are organisations getting more from their data and using that knowledge to offer greater value to customers?
• Managing the emotional side of finance: how are banks and insurers ensuring contact centres have the tools and processes in place to navigate their expanding role?
• Making the conversations count: how can technology be proactively deployed to allow staff to move away from transactional conversations to more meaningful interactions?
• From chatbots to virtual assistants and instant messaging: Are they primarily for simple use cases or can they be utilised to handle more complex customer queries?
• Inspiring customer trust and loyalty: how can banks and insurers ensure empathy is central to company culture?
• How can regulators, financial services institutions and consumer bodies work together to improve the treatment of customers dealing with economic hardship in the future?