The Challenge

A leading global financial services provider sought to strengthen customer loyalty and increase share of wallet for investment services among its mass affluent and high-net-worth segments. Brand research indicated that mass affluent and high-net-worth segments viewed our client as out of touch with the needs of modern investors, as well as lacking in providing the clear strategic guidance investors wanted.

What We Did

Applied Marketing Science (AMS) evaluated the end-to-end customer experience among these segments. The research established a clear understanding of investor expectations, as well as an assessment of how our client and key competitors met these expectations. Topics covered the full range of the experience, including onboarding as a client, ongoing consultation and responsiveness to client requests. It also evaluated the attrition process, identifying the reasons customers left to go to other investment professionals. AMS led the initiative, which involved:

• Comprehensive qualitative research using our best-in-class techniques to identify a comprehensive understanding of expectations and brand perceptions.
• Systematic quantitative research, including a conjoint tradeoff exercise and development of a customer loyalty-attrition model.
• Facilitated ideation-generation session to translate customer expectations into tangible actions our client could use to develop a playbook for strengthening relationships with mass affluent and high-net-worth customers.

The Outcome

Our customer experience research led to the development of direct action on the part of our client. Findings revealed quantitative benchmarks related to the frequency of communication preferences, channel preferences and minimizing the need to interact with multiple individuals. In addition, by identifying the key reasons for losing customers, the results provided a framework for managing customer loyalty on an ongoing basis, rather than in a less effective crisis response model.