FinTech adoption is not showing any signs of slowing down – it continues to disrupt the global financial services industry and its effect on the banking industry is highly significant. Banks are seeing the opportunities new innovations present and are focusing on how they can be harnessed to improve areas such as personal advisory services and augment customer experience.

This can be seen in-branch, with many banks being forced to re-imagine the in-person, in-branch experience to offer customers with easy, fast, relevant and personalized services they now expect as standard.

Innovation is focused on offering the best of both worlds – a hybrid digital/physical experience allows customers to take control of their finances and plan how they will manage their money in the future. As such, branches are still an impactful service and sales channel because people still want human interactions when dealing with one of the most important areas of their lives, and after all, the best way to maintain and increasing sales is through solid customer relationships.

Key ingredients for improving branch success

Customer experience is a crucial success factor. The quality of the branch experience is very important, especially when customers are considering a life-impacting product, such as a mortgage or setting up a pension scheme. When making these kinds of decisions, how they interact with the bank’s brand – from the advisor’s demeanor right through to how long they have to wait for their turn can make or break their relationship with the bank – a poor experience can put them off returning, or even make them decide to switch providers. There’s no question that a positive customer experience is one of the most crucial factors when it comes to the success of banking.

Video analytics are very suited to help financial institutions improve customer service and experiences. It can be used for business optimization by measuring footfall, detecting queueing, measuring crowdedness, collecting demographic information and for recognizing faces. Additionally, with a network audio system, banks can choose to combine background music with scheduled and live announcements for the best possible customer experience. We examine some of these in more detail below:

• Keep track of visitor numbers

A people counting analytic makes it easy for banks to keep track of visitor numbers in response to business activities, such as marketing campaigns, organized events or external factors such as weather conditions. This provides valuable insights and metrics, for example measuring the success of a marketing campaign. It can also be useful for branch optimization, such as determining staff levels and the best opening times.

• Keep customers happy

A queue length monitoring analytic can provide equally useful data, allowing financial institutions to adjust staffing schedules and reduce customer wait times.

It’s widely recognized that when a customer waits longer than three minutes, their perceived wait time multiplies with each passing minute. Video analytics can help organizations pinpoint and resolve service issues, resulting in happier, more loyal customers and improved sales.

• Know your customer

Face analysis can provide insights and statistics on various aspects of a customer, such as an estimation of age intervals and gender. With this information, banks can target their communications to visitors more efficiently, so the customer will feel more appreciated. With face recognition, individuals can appreciate a personalized welcome and find staff prepared for their arrival. This technology can also be used on ATMs as an alternative to entering PIN codes, thereby increasing customer convenience.

• Lift moods

Brand awareness, a feeling of improved customer experience, and customer loyalty can all be subtly affected by background music. Creating a good atmosphere make customers feel better in the branch environment and increase their positivity towards the brand. Furthermore, music has been thought to boost the productivity of workers, improving employee morale and motivation, which can lead to higher customer satisfaction, increased output and raising the bank’s bottom line.

Improving customer experience with video metrics and background music

The best way to stand out in what is a very regulated market – where largely the same product offerings are available to consumers, who have a lot of choice – is by offering exceptional customer service. Financial institutions need to ensure every interaction with their customers is a constructive one. Video analytics and background music are essential to this process and, when coupled with re-imagining the branch experience, they will have a quantifiable impact.

While we’ve seen the benefits that video analytics provides in terms of optimizing branch assets, from accurate people counting, queue monitoring and effective campaign investments, there are further steps that can be taken to gather intelligence on improving customer experience. By combining video data with other in-branch data collection techniques, such as surveys and staff reporting on typical questions, banks can be even more effective at serving their customers and selling financial products.

From the moment a customer walks through the door, to the moment they leave – every step of the customer journey should add value.

To find out more about video analytics in bank branch transformation: Call us at 847-621-5452