6 Ways NBFCs Can Transform Customer Experience
Prashanth Kancherla
Sep 12, 2023
The non-banking financial corporation (NBFC) industry has grown significantly in India (and worldwide) in the last two decades. From digital and branch-based lending companies to housing finance companies (HFCs), NBFCs are more prevalent than ever, and they will likely keep growing for years to come.
As NBFCs continue to take up a key share of global financial market, it’s vital that these companies take steps to improve the customer experience and provide superior financial services. They face unique pain points that other financial institutions don’t and, as a result, must adopt unique strategies to attract and retain customers.
Discover the strategies NBFCs can implement to transform the customer experience below.
In this article, we will explore:
Customer Experience Challenges for NBFCs
Let’s begin with the specific challenges NBFCs face. The following are some of the most frequently cited difficulties these businesses must overcome to succeed now and in the future:
- Keeping Up with Regulatory Guidelines
- Quick Time to Market
- Demand for Increased Efficiency
- Identifying Delinquency and Improving Debt Collection
- Limited Time to Contact Leads
Keeping Up with Regulatory Guidelines
Regulatory guidelines in the financial world — especially among NBFCs — seem to be constantly changing. These frequent changes make it hard for NBFCs to ensure they’re providing compliant services that protect customers’ data and foster trust in their organization.
Quick Time to Market
Many NBFCs feel the need to introduce new products and services and get them on the market as quickly as possible. This increased pressure may lead to subpar products being released as NBFCs scramble to keep up with the competition. These subpar products, in turn, worsen the customer experience and can ultimately backfire on the company.
Demand for Increased Efficiency
These days, people want their banking services to be as smooth and efficient as possible. This demand for efficiency means that NBFCs must work hard to streamline various services and processes, from transactions to collections — otherwise, customers may become frustrated and look for financial services elsewhere.
Identifying Delinquency and Improving Debt Collection
Many NBFCs struggle to create and maintain processes for identifying delinquent accounts and collecting debts from defaulters. A lack of up-to-date information hurts the company and the customer by preventing them from settling their accounts as quickly as possible.
Limited Time to Contact Leads
Because the NBFC market is growing so rapidly, it’s highly competitive, meaning that institutions must be strategic about contacting leads. If they don’t make contact with prospective customers right away — and demonstrate what makes their financial services superior — they risk losing them to another company.
How NBFCs Can Transform the Customer Experience
These obstacles are all too familiar to most NBFC owners and overseers. Fortunately, there are many strategies that these professionals can use to enhance the customer experience and support long-term business growth, including the following:
- Accelerate Lead Conversion
- Boost Sales Efficiency
- Streamline Collections, Verifications, and More
- Excel at Self-service
- Build Trust through Robust Data Security
Accelerate Lead Conversion
In the fast-paced world of customer engagement, every moment counts. Choose a solution that ensures no lead goes unnoticed. Ensure a prompt response to every digital lead with a call within 15 minutes of their inquiry. Enhance conversion rates by prioritizing and automatically following up on high-value leads. It’s all about providing a seamless experience that impresses your potential clients from the very beginning, setting the stage for successful conversions and streamlining the sales process for maximum efficiency.
Boost Sales Efficiency
Send personalized offers to large databases via voice bots, SMS, and WhatsApp and ensure warm leads are instantly connected to your sales teams. Treble your lead conversions by instantly connecting potential customers with your sales teams, fostering efficiency. Imagine the power of instantly connecting warm leads to your sales teams, drastically increasing lead conversion rates. It’s a strategic shift that not only optimizes your sales processes but also enhances the overall customer experience, making every interaction count.
Streamline Collections, Verifications, and More
Managing collections and verifications can be a headache, but not with our solution. Reduce loan delinquency by automating EMI and payment reminders, ensuring your customers never miss a beat. Further, you need to create an excellent customer experience by automating notifications at every step of the application and verification process. It’s about keeping your customers in the loop and making their journey as smooth as possible. Happy customers are more likely to stay loyal, and that’s what every NBFC firm looks to achieve.
Excel at Self-service
Today customers expect self-service options that allow them to access information and assistance at their convenience. Leverage a solution that offers intelligent self-service through IVR, chatbots, or WhatsApp, ensuring your customers can get the assistance they need whenever they want it. Don’t stop at basic self-service, take it to the next level with deep CRM integrations. This means personalized conversations, prioritization of high-value customers, and customized offers. It’s about making your customers feel valued and understood, which ultimately leads to stronger relationships and business growth.
Build Trust through Robust Data Security
Customers entrust their sensitive financial information to NBFCs, making robust data security measures non-negotiable. According to a study, only 38 per cent of global organizations say they can handle a sophisticated cyber attack. Take a security-driven approach to your compliance strategy and meet the protection needs for your business platforms. Regularly re-evaluate your company’s security protocols and make sure you’re working with the most up-to-date protections. Be transparent about your security, too, by letting customers know which industry standards you hold yourself to (for example, are you ISO 20000 or ISO 27001 certified?). When you take security seriously, and let customers know that you take it seriously, you foster a greater sense of trust and encourage them to continue working with you.
Why Ozonetel?
The right customer experience (CX) platform can make all the difference when it comes to leveling up the services your NBFC provides. Look for a platform that offers features like automated dialing, seamless integrations, smart routing, and sophisticated monitoring technology. These tools will help you connect with customers, convert leads, conduct more in-depth analyses, and more.
Ozonetel is a full-stack, award-winning, and highly secure customer experience platform that has produced tangible and meaningful results since its introduction. Here’s why you should choose Ozonetel.
Set up and Scale with ease: With our robust, cloud-native solutions, you can set up your system rapidly and easily scale your operations as per seasonal demand.
Ensure Efficiency: Simplify complex workflows and enhance productivity by seamlessly automating repetitive tasks through our deep CTI integrations
Empower Your Teams with AI: Harness the power of Generative AI to enhance the supervision, training, and overall performance of your entire team.
Secure & Robust: Our platform prioritizes security and compliance, aligning seamlessly with the latest RBI, ISG, and PCI guidelines to ensure your operations are both secure
Omnichannel Support: Ensure that you can connect with people securely through voice and digital channels. The easier it is to connect, the easier it will be to deliver quality service
Results
The following are just a few examples of the outcomes Ozonetel has provided for NBFCs and their customers:
A leading rural NBFC used Ozonetel’s solutions to
- Automate 5 million personalized loan repayment reminders each month (that’s 50 percent faster than manual processes)
- Support 350 branches in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, assisting with loan assessment and verification processes
- Reach out to 1L+ loan applicants and guarantors monthly
- Improve turnaround time for reach-outs by 95 percent, reducing them from 2 days to 2 hours
An emerging NBFC involved in consumer and MSME financing used Ozonetel’ services to
- Empower customers with self-service technology, resulting in 50 percent of customer queries being addressed this way
- Support multiple locations with a single dashboard, resulting in significant savings on infra-cost
A promising credit provider has used Ozonetel to
- Bolster debt recovery protocols by establishing a virtual contact center in days
- Enable collection agents to schedule calls and notifications
With results like these, it’s no wonder Ozonetel is trusted by many of India’s leading banks and financial firms.
In Conclusion
From providing additional value and education to investing in an omnichannel CX platform, there are many strategies NBFCs can use to transform the customer experience and increase retention rates. Additionally, leveraging advanced analytics and AI-driven insights can enable NBFCs to gain a deeper understanding of customer behavior, preferences, and pain points, ultimately driving more personalized and effective customer interactions.
