Historically, customers came into a branch to research financial products prior to purchase. Today, the majority of customers have done significant online research before entering the lobby, transforming the bank and credit union purchase funnel.
Unfortunately, these digital shoppers get confused as they try to navigate tedious web pages or become unimpressed when they encounter unprepared branch personnel, requiring financial institutions to develop an improved multichannel sales strategy.
When respondents to the Novantas 2012 Multi-Channel Sales Survey were asked to identify their preferred channels for product research, online was cited as the top avenue by 63 percent of respondents with only 13 percent of the respondents stating that the branch was their primary research source. A majority of these same respondents, however, preferred to open an account at a branch, with only 36 percent preferring to open an account online.
The Novantas research found that preferences differed based on the account the customer was researching, with customer using the online channel more when shopping for a new checking account (69%) than for a mortgage (57%) or investment product (55%). Again, the branch channel was not the first choice for initial research.
