In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, American athlete Gail Devers was in the lead during the 100-meter hurdles final. She had already won a gold medal in the 100-meter dash, and it looked like she was about to earn her second. But then something happened…
Devers’ foot caught on the final hurdle, tripping her and costing her the race. She fell from first to fifth in an instant. She literally fell at the final hurdle.
This sad occurrence doesn’t just happen in Olympic races – it happens with your bank or credit union website too. Marketing effectively steers people to the website (maybe even into an application process) before something lets the consumer down. There’s some final digital hurdle that forces consumers to leave.
It’s time to remove your crippling final hurdles and transform your site into a helping hand instead.
The Hurdle: Loading Times and Downtimes
A recent Financial Brand article mentioned many big banks underperform in this area when compared to smaller peers (with loading times as long as almost ten seconds and downtimes approaching ten percent). But this isn’t a problem exclusive to the big guys. Many websites suffer from lengthy site buffering that grinds down consumers’ patience.
The Assistant: Website Optimization
If your site struggles here, optimization must be a top priority. What might be slowing you down? Look for large videos embedded on the website. Video is a great marketing tool, but it can kill your site speeds if overutilized. Giant image files throughout the website might also cause issues. Minimize file sizes while retaining images.
The Hurdle: Oppressive Risk Management
Know Your Customer/Know Your Member measures aren’t a bad thing. They protect financial organizations from bad actors, and they prevent criminals from using stolen identities to open accounts. But they become downright oppressive if you overdo it. Making people input the same information several times, poorly designed forms and pages that refresh too quickly all cause frustration.
The Assistant: Good Friction
Writer Nick Holland notes, “Today’s CX leaders should shift from erasing every barrier to designing the right ones.” The right fraud protections instill confidence that you safeguard consumer financial information. But improperly communicated demands feel like you’re nagging the consumer. Moderation is everything.
The Hurdle: A Digital Silo
Sometimes, employees lock themselves in silos. And sometimes, you lock your digital employee (your bank or credit union website) in one too. When your chat fails or your form flounders, can people talk to a real human being? If not, you may lose these consumers right at a critical decision point.
The Assistant: Easy Aid
Your website is a part of your marketing, yes, but it’s also a part of your service experience. Make it easy for consumers to contact a real staff member should they need help. This may salvage the relationship when the website lets you down…because let’s be honest: even great websites occasionally falter.
But before you address these problems, you need to determine if your website needs a redesign. A poorly designed site with good load times still turns people away. Book a free consultation with On The Mark Strategies today, and let’s talk about bringing your bank or credit union website into the modern era.
