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:
| Increased | Decreased | |
| Invite to visit a branch | 64% | 10% |
| If on hold, thanked for waiting | 97% | 20% |
| Express appreciation for interest / thank you for business | 92% | 20% |
| Offer further assistance | 85% | 25% |
| Mention/refer to website | 66% | 20% |
| Listen attentively to your needs | 80% | 25% |
| Offer to send material | 97% | 31% |
| Product knowledge | 98% | 35% |
| Ask for name | 68% | 25% |
| Ask for your business/close the sale | 76% | 32% |
| If on hold, check back in 1 minute | 94% | 40% |
| When thanked respond graciously | 98% | 42% |
| Ask probing questions | 94% | 42% |
| Explanations easy to understand | 99% | 45% |
| Explain the value of banking with bank | 88% | 43% |
| Thank for calling | 99% | 50% |
| Friendly demeanor / pleasant voice | 100% | 60% |
| Clear Greeting | 95% | 60% |
| Avoid bank jargon | 98% | 68% |
| Use name | 96% | 67% |
| Mention other bank product | 99% | 75% |
| Good pace | 98% | 75% |
| Wait for response before placed on hold | 100% | 80% |
| Demonstrate understanding of question | 100% | 81% |
| Answered in 3 rings | 99% | 88% |
| Speak clearly | 99% | 88% |
| Professional Greeting | 98% | 89% |
| Avoid interrupting | 100% | 95% |
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.
Aligning Cross Channel Behaviors
Customers do not care nor understand why the experience of interacting with an organization through one channel is different than another. Be it via in-person, contact center, chat, or website, customers expect a seamless and consistent experience. Cross-channel alignment presents managers with a series of complex issues. This post focuses on the issue of sales and service behaviors, and outlines a methodology to align channels into a consistent set of cross channel behaviors.
Define Overall Experience
It should go without saying that the first step in aligning sales and service behaviors across channels it to define the elements of the experience for the entire organization. This sounds fairly obvious, but I’m always surprised by how many clients do not have agreed upon cross channel customer experience requirements.
Starting at the beginning, the first step is to define the customer experience in terms of dimensions or attributes which make up the desired experience.
For example, a financial institution may decide they what their customer experience to be comprised of four dimensions:
- Relationship building
- Sales process
- Product knowledge
- Customer knowledge
Define Dimensions In Terms of Attributes
The next step in building a consistent set of behaviors across all channels is to define each of the desired service dimensions in terms of attributes, which support each dimension.
In keeping with the above example, a financial institution may define each dimension in terms of the following set of attributes.
| Dimension | Attributes |
| Relationship building | Establish trustCommitment to customer needsPerceived as trusted advisor |
| Sales process | Referral to appropriate partner |
| Product knowledge | Understanding of a range of productsUnderstand features and benefitsExplain benefits in ways that are meaningful to customers |
| Customer knowledge | Needs analysis |
Map Behaviors Across Channels
Once each dimension is defined in terms of specific attributes, the next step is to identify specific behaviors for each channel that support each attribute.
Keeping with the above example, the financial institution may decide that establishing trust is made up of a set of five behaviors mapped across each channel.
Relationship Building: Establish Trust
| New Accounts | Teller | Contact Center |
| Maintain eye contact | Maintain eye contact | |
| Speak clearly | Speak clearly | Speak clearly |
| Maintain smile | Maintain smile | Sound as if they were smiling through the phone |
| Thank for business | Thank for business | Thank for business |
| Ask “What else may we assist you with today?” | Ask “What else may we assist you with today?” | Ask “What else they could do to assist you today?” |
| Encourage future business | Encourage future business | Encourage future business |
Note this behavioral map assigns behaviors based on their appropriateness to each channel. So, for example, while the in-personal channel may be expected to maintain eye contact, obviously that would not apply for the contact center. Or the in-person channel may be expected to maintain a smile, while for the contact center this behavior may be modified for the phone channel to sounding as if they are smiling through the phone.
Measurement and Reinforcement
Key to maintaining consistent behaviors across channels is monitoring the experience. The two most common methodologies to monitor cross channel alignment are post-transaction surveys and mystery shopping.
How customers feel about the organization, and the extent to which each service dimension and attribute is perceived within the customer’s mind are best measured with post-transaction surveys of customers.
Measuring specific behaviors is best performed with mystery shoppers, where specially trained researchers observe the presence of each behavior using predetermined scenarios.
Kinesis CEM 
A New Normal: Implications for Bank Customer Experience Measurement Post Pandemic – Planned Interactions
Part 2: Research Tools to Monitor Planned Interactions through the Customer Lifecycle
As we explored in an earlier post, Three Types of Customer Experiences CX Managers Must Understand, there are three types of customer interactions: Planned, Stabilizing, and Critical.
Planned interactions are intended to increase customer profitability through the customer lifecycle by engaging customers with relevant planned interactions and content in an integrated omni-channel environment. Planned interactions will continue to grow in importance as the financial service industry shifts to an integrated digital first model.
These planned interactions are frequently triggered by changes in account usage, financial situation, family profile, etc. CRM analytics combined with Big Data are becoming quite effective at recognizing such opportunities and prompting action toward planned interactions. Customer experience managers should have a process to record and analyze the quality of execution of planned interactions with the objective of evaluating their effectiveness – regardless of the channel.
The key to an effective strategy for planned interactions is relevance. Triggered requests for increased engagement must be made in the context of the customer’s needs and with their permission; otherwise, the requests will come off as clumsy and annoying, and give the impression the bank is not really interested in the customer’s individual needs. By aligning information about execution quality (cause) and customer impressions (effect), customer experience managers can build a more effective and relevant approach to planned interactions.
Research Plan for Planned Interactions
The first step in designing a research plan to test the efficacy of these planned interactions is to define the campaign. Ask yourself, what customer interactions are planned through these layers of integrated channels. Mapping the process will define your research objectives, allowing an informed judgment of what to measure and how to measure it.
For example, after acquisition and onboarding, assume a bank has a campaign to trigger planned interactions based on triggers from past engagement. These planned interactions are segmented into the following phases of the customer lifecycle: engagement, growth, and retention.
Engagement Phase
Often it is instructive to think of customer experience research in terms of the bank-customer interface, employing different research tools to study the customer experience from both sides of this interface.
In our example above, management may measure the effectiveness of planned experiences in the engagement phase with the following research tools:
These post-experience surveys are event-driven, where a transaction or service interaction determines if the customer is selected for a survey. They can be performed across all channels, digital, contact center and in-person. As the name implies, the purpose of this type of survey is to measure experience with a specific customer experience.
Ultimately, employees are at the center of the integrated customer experience model.
Employee surveys often measure employee satisfaction and engagement. However, there is far more value to be gleaned from employees. We employ them to understand what is going on at the customer-employee interface by leveraging employees as a valuable and inexpensive resource of customer experience information.
They not only provide intelligence into the customer experience, but also evaluate the level of support within the organization, and identify perceptual gaps between management and frontline personnel.
Overall satisfaction surveys measure customer satisfaction among the general population of customers, regardless of whether or not they recently conducted a transaction. They give managers valuable insight into overall satisfaction, engagement, image and positioning across the entire customer base, not just active customers.
Be it a website or mobile app, digital mystery shopping allows managers of these channels to test ease of use, navigation and the overall customer experience of these digital channels.
Mystery shopping is about alignment. It is an excellent tool to align the customer experience to the brand. Best-in-class mystery shopping answers the question: is our customer experience consistent with our brand objectives? Historically, mystery shopping has been in the in-person channel, however we are seeing increasing mystery shopping to contact center agents.
Growth Phase
In the growth phase, we measure the effectiveness of planned experiences on both sides of the customer interface with the following research tools:
Awareness of the brand, its products and services, is central to planned service interactions. Managers need to know how awareness and attitudes change as a result of these planned experiences.
In these unique mystery shops, mystery shoppers are seeded into the lead/referral process. The sales behaviors and their effectiveness are then evaluated in an outbound sales interaction.
These shops work very well in planned sales interactions within the contact center environment.
These surveys are used to evaluate customer engagement with and loyalty to the institution. Specifically, they determine if customers consider the institution their primary provider of financial services, and identify potential road blocks to wallet share growth.
Retention Phase
Finally, planned experiences within the retention phase of the customer lifecycle may be monitored with the following tools:
CIT is a qualitative research methodology designed to uncover details surrounding a service encounter that a customer found particularly satisfying or dissatisfying. This research technique identifies these common critical incidents, their impact on the customer experience, and customer engagement, giving managers an informed perspective upon which to prepare employees to recognize moments of truth, and respond in ways that will lead to positive outcomes.
Employees observe firsthand the relationship with the customer. They are a valuable resource of customer experience information, and can provide a lot of context into the types of bad experiences customers frequently experience.
Closed account surveys identify sources of run-off or churn to provide insight into improving customer retention.
If an integrated channel approach is the objective, one should measure the customer experience in an integrated manner.
In lifecycle shops, shoppers interact with the bank over a period of time, across multiple touch points (digital, contact center and in-person). This lifecycle approach provides broad and deep observations about sales and service alignment to the brand and performance throughout the customer lifecycle across all channels.
Comment tools are not new, but with modern Internet-based technology they can be used as a valuable feedback tool to identify at risk customers and mitigate the causes of their dissatisfaction.
Call to Action – Make the Most of the Research
For customer experience surveys, we recommend testing the effectiveness of planned interactions by benchmarking three loyalty attitudes:
For mystery shopping, we find linking observations to a dependent variable, such as purchase intent, identifies which sales and service behaviors drive purchase intent – informing decisions with respect to training and incentives to reinforce the sales activities which drive purchase intent.
As the integrated digital first business model accelerates, planned interactions will continue to grow in importance, and managers of the customer experience should build customer experience monitoring tools to evaluate the efficacy of these planned experiences in terms of driving desired customer attitudes and behaviors.
In the next post, we will take a look at stabilizing experiences, and their implications for customer experience research.