Why finance departments play a crucial role in the customer experience

The ease with which consumers can switch suppliers is leading to reduced customer loyalty with record numbers switching energy providers in 2018. As businesses look to reverse this, customer experience and improving customer satisfaction is becoming a key focus and often in some organisations, like insurance companies, this responsibility is falling to their finance teams. While this isn’t a role traditionally associated with finance professionals, they tend to be the final step in the buying process and are therefore as crucial to the customer experience as the sales department. Consequently, ensuring they provide a good level of customer service is vital to encourage repeat custom, particularly as it costs companies six to seven times less to retain a customer than to acquire a new one. In order to increase retention, businesses need to stand out from the competition, and while offering a lower price definitely helps, the most effective way to do this is to offer a better level of service. Here are three ways the finance department can help their organisation achieve this:

Creating seamless experiences

As finance teams strive to improve the customer experience, it is vital they remove friction from and streamline the payment process. This is achieved by offering better digital capabilities and more varied payment options, such as via direct debit or by sending a link to a payment platform. Additionally, more finance departments are adopting technology which allows them to automate repetitive processes that until now have been done manually. As a direct result of this, more time can be spent providing better customer service and focusing more closely on the higher value accounts or those experiencing financial difficulties. 

Understanding the importance of relationship management and solving problems with the customer creates mutual understanding and builds a close relationship. They are not only then more satisfied with their experience but are also far more likely to pay their bill sooner next time. 

Segmenting customers

Making things as easy as possible for the customer is key to improving their experience and this is something finance departments can do through their use of customer segmentation. While its use is more commonly associated with improving the credit control processes, it can also be instrumental in enhancing the customer experience. As finance departments are primarily focused on receiving payment for invoices, tailoring services to customer needs and doing everything possible to enable them to pay on time are a must. Therefore, the more the finance team knows about the customer, the better. This information can be used to adopt a personal approach based on identified needs and requirements. For example, it’s possible to find out how customers want to be contacted, whether that’s via email, phone or perhaps even WhatsApp, and how they like to pay. 

This data can also be used to group customers into segments and create corresponding workflows which determine how the business interacts with individuals, for instance. By segmenting customers, the finance team can build a better understanding of them and therefore better meet their needs, maintain satisfaction and build a close, long-term relationship with them. 

Collaboration

It is essential that both the finance team and sales department engage in two-way communication with the customer to gain a better understanding of what their needs and wants are in order to deliver high-quality experiences. After all, a happy customer is a loyal customer. The two departments need to work in close conjunction to ensure this. Sales are the lifeblood of any organisation and a breakdown between finance and sales can lead to problems and impact an existing or potential customer. Finance must appreciate that sales are vital to the success of the business and sales need to appreciate that a sale is only good when it is paid for, preferably on time. Sales and credit are likely to have the most communication with a customer or potential customer and both need to sing from the same song sheet. On too many occasions, communication is poor, leading to lost customers and therefore lost business. No one benefits in this scenario.

Further to this, finance and sales departments should have regular meetings and training sessions. This will ultimately lead to a better understanding of each other’s roles, difficulties and what each experience on a day to day basis. Working together is hugely beneficial to all involved, making for a happier working environment and a smoother, more consistent customer experience. 

Looking to the future, the finance department will continue to play an integral role in the customer experience as businesses compete for new customers and vie to retain existing customers. With this in mind, organisations will be required to cultivate an environment in which both sales and finance work together to provide a consistent and frictionless customer experience. This means ensuring the lines of communication between sales and finance are open, implementing the right technology and using the information they have to provide a personalised experience for customers. At the end of the day, this will not only help the finance department to improve customer satisfaction and retention but will also streamline and improve operations.