Some brands go beyond loyalty and seem to spark a genuine love affair with their customers.
Just think how fiercely Apple users feel about the company’s products, for example. But who can honestly say they love their bank, mortgage broker or credit card provider?
There’s no reason why financial services firms shouldn’t be as beloved as technology providers, High Street coffee chains or soft drink brands. Think about it. Apart from our loved ones and our health (of course), money is about the most important thing we have. Banks, lenders and money transfers firms like MoneyNetint aren’t just financial firms: we’re in the dream business.
Our sector helps people buy houses, save for a comfortable retirement, set up and grow businesses, and send much-needed funds overseas. If that’s not deserving of a little love, it’s hard to know what is.
But when financial services firms provoke strong emotions, they are invariably negative. From long wait times to speak to a customer advisor to a lack of tailored services or financial advice, the industry’s approach to its customers is distinctly impersonal. The only way you can guarantee the five-star, red carpet treatment is to have millions in the bank; the rest of us are left with the impression that we’re more of a tiresome burden than a valued customer.
Committing to customers
That was never the way we wanted our customers to feel, no matter their size. At MoneyNetint, we are constantly reviewing how we serve our customers and investing in improving their experience. Plenty of other financial businesses make the same claim, but how many of them can prove it? At MoneyNetint, we’re proud of our (almost) perfect score on Trustpilot, with our customers particularly praising our approach to customer service.
High customer satisfaction doesn’t happen by accident. It requires hard work to attain and, just as importantly, to maintain. We have no intention of resting on our laurels and, while we love to hear people praising us, it’s far more important that we listen and respond to our customers when we haven’t met their (and our own) highest expectations. Still, what’s most satisfying about our Trustpilot score is that this is a reflection of what we set out to achieve: to become a brand that doesn’t just get the job done, but that makes our customers feel truly valued.
And that’s something you can’t fake. Exceeding expectations requires a commitment to customers that’s built right into the DNA of the business – it’s not a business function that you can simply bolt on like a piece of software.
So how do we do it? And what can other financial services businesses learn from our approach?
Spilling our secrets
We’d love to say that there’s a special magic to providing a great customer experience, something we can hint at and then not reveal as our ‘trade secret’. In reality, there is no secret: just the ethos delivering a truly personalised approach, which forms the foundation of our business, its values, and our approach to customer service.
But perhaps MoneyNetint is a little unusual, because so much of what we’re doing is pioneering. We founded our business to break the glass ceiling of international payments, which traditionally has made it incredibly difficult for global businesses to trade affordably and simply anywhere in the world. To do this, we have to open up new channels between banks, regulators and other financial service providers and that requires an intimate understanding of our customers’ needs, such as what markets they want to reach and what services they need.
Getting things right the first time is important for serving our current customers, of course, but it also pays dividends for all the businesses that follow in their wake, piggybacking on the new payment channels and infrastructure that we set up.
It’s this imperative that underpins our ethos, which is to make every customer feel like they’re our only customer. Everything else flows from there. It’s why we never hide behind call centres or “customer service agents”. If you partner with us, you’ll have a direct line to our senior team, and you can call us any time to discuss your changing needs. And you’ll have access to a whole team of experienced business experts, from a compliance department that’s well-versed in the complexities of international payments and complex business structures, to payments experts who know how to evaluate, navigate and mitigate the pitfalls of opening up financial presence in a new market.
Perhaps more than any industry, financial services is about relationships. Perhaps it’s more important for us given the specific nature of our business, but there’s no reason why banks, lenders, payment firms or any other financial firm can’t take the same approach. Because when you make a great customer experience the platform for everything you do, that’s the best way to develop loyalty, and even love, for your brand.
About the Author
Yishay Trif is Chief Executive Officer at MoneyNetInt. MoneyNetInt provides better payment solutions for companies by utilising various supported payment schemes in multiple jurisdictions. The platform is best described as PayPal for business; a one-stop-shop for liquidity. Yishay shares his thoughts on fintech, and London’s place in the sector.
