How Banks Can Anticipate Customer Needs in a Digital-First World

Excellent customer experience has become a competitive necessity, especially as customer interactions with financial institutions have undergone significant change. Banking relationships were once centered around the branch. Today, most consumers begin their journey online and research, evaluate, and decide on financial institutions and products long before they speak with a banker. This shift mirrors behavior common in travel and retail. It also creates challenges for institutions that once relied on face-to-face interactions to identify needs and build trust.

To stay competitive, financial institutions must strengthen their digital capabilities and deliver an exceptional customer experience. The institutions that thrive will be those that detect customer needs early, respond proactively, and maintain personalized engagement across channels. This approach builds trust throughout the entire customer journey.

The starting point is implementing solutions that actively detect customer needs.

Institutions need capabilities that enable them to listen to both prospects and customers across every channel. ARGO’s Connects platform does this through a customer-centric active listening model that identifies needs and responds quickly and appropriately.

ARGO embeds listening posts across six functional areas:

1. Website sensory: Detect and interpret customer needs based on digital behavior.
2. Customer engagement responses: Use analytics and decisioning to measure engagement and deliver relevant campaigns.
3. Personal financial planner: Capture self-disclosed needs through Accumulator, ARGO’s goal-based financial planning tool.
4. Omnichannel fulfillment: Track abandoned applications and send follow-up campaigns to increase conversions.
5. Staff interaction: Measure satisfaction tied to staff engagement.
6. Attrition risk: Identify and quantify risk factors and intervene early.

These listening posts monitor behavior and sentiment, while automated decisioning triggers relevant engagement when thresholds are met. In a digital-first market, this embedded listening framework enables institutions to detect, quantify, decide, and engage across both staff and digital channels throughout the customer journey.

For more information, download our interview document “Actively Detecting Customer Needs.”