Drivers of Purchase Intent in the Contact Center Experience in Retail Banking

What impresses customers positively as a result of a call to your call center?

To answer this question, Kinesis conducted research into the efficacy of the bank contact center sales process by observing a battery of sales and service behaviors through the use of mystery shoppers. The objective of this study was to identify which sales and service behaviors drive purchase intent. (See the insert below for a description of the methodology).

The table at the end of this post shows the relative frequency in which each behavior was observed in shops where the shopper reported positive purchase intent as a result of the call, compared to shops with negative purchase intent.

The seven behaviors with the strongest relationship to purchase intent are:

• Invite to visit a branch
• If on hold, thank for waiting
• Express appreciation for interest/thank for business
• Offer further assistance
• Mention/refer to website
• Listen attentively to your needs
• Offer to send material

Each of these behaviors is at least three times more likely to be present in shops with positive purchase intent compared to those with negative purchase intent.

Two observations jump out from this first group of behaviors:

First, integration of other channels into the sales process appears to drive purchase intent. Inviting the shopper to visit a branch was observed 6.4 times more frequently in shops with positive purchase intent compared to negative. The branch still has a role in the sales process; other research consistently points to the convenience of branch location as a driver of selection of a primary financial institution. If contact centers leverage the branch during the sales process, they have a significantly better chance to advance the sale. Additionally, when the agent incorporated the website into the sales presentation, they also have a better chance of advancing the sale. Mentioning the website was 3.3 times more likely to be present in shops with positive purchase intent compared to negative.

Secondly, the balance of these key behaviors all revolve around personal attention (thank for waiting on hold, offing further assistance, listening attentively, offer to send material) and interest in the customer’s business (express appreciation or thank for business).

Nine more behaviors were at least twice as likely to be present in shops with positive purchase intent:

• Product knowledge
• Ask for name
• Ask for your business/close the sale
• If on hold, check back in 1 minute
• When thanked respond graciously
• Ask probing questions
• Explanations easy to understand
• Explain the value of banking with bank
• Thank for calling

The themes most common in this second group of behaviors that appear to influence purchase intent are competence (product knowledge, easy to understand explanations), personal attention (asking name, checking back on hold, probing of needs) and interest in the customer’s business (ask for business, express value, thank for calling).

So…what drives purchase intent as a result of a call to a contact center? Integrating other channels into the conversation, and sincerely expressing interest in the customer broadly drive purchase intent.

Frequency Behavior Observed in Shops with Increased and Decreased Purchase Intent:

Methodology

To evaluate the state of the in-branch sales process, Kinesis mystery shopped five banks with significant North American footprints. Among the objectives of the study were to:

1) Define the sales process among different institutions.

2) Evaluate the effectiveness of specific sales behaviors.

Shoppers were asked a mixture of closed-ended questions to evaluate the presence or frequency of specific behaviors, and open-ended questions to gather the qualitative impressions of these behaviors on the shoppers – in short the how and why behind how the shopper felt. Finally, to provide a basis to evaluate the effectiveness of each sales behavior, shoppers were asked to rate their purchase intent as a result of the visit. This purchase intent rating was then used as a means of evaluating what behaviors tend to be present when positive purchase intent is reported as opposed to negative purchase intent.