Saving money by getting customers to do more banking online

Situation

Branch staff incentives to sign people up for online banking had proven very successful. But many of the people who signed up ended up doing little or no banking online. Since a transaction that would cost the bank pennies online cost $32 in person, the bank had a clear financial incentive to get people to do more online. Web Mystery Shoppers' job was to figure out why customers who had signed up were not taking advantage of online banking and how they could be induced to increase the proportion of their banking business done online.

Challenges

The bank did not want to approach their customers directly about participating for fear of irritating them with "yet another" customer service study, and they wanted it clear that the study was independent of the bank so that customers would have no concerns that their comments might somehow influence their relationship with the bank.

Approach

For this In-Depth study we first determined through a screening survey that we had well over 100 of their customers in our existing tester database. As part of that survey, we asked questions about their attitudes towards online banking and what activities they currently did online. Next we set out 9 separate task groups. Each was given different goals to try to accomplish at the bank's website. In one group testers were allowed to pick their own task: they were merely told to try an online service they had never tried before.

Results: The final reports ran to nearly 1000 pages (summarized and highlighted for the client, of course!) Client learned that:

• Most of the online banking functions were hidden behind a "cute" label that none of the customers understood. They had no idea how to access many of the key online banking activities.
• The two-step registration process involved a delay while people had to wait for a document to be snail-mailed to them. By the time it arrived, they had forgotten where or how to log in.
• 75% of Windows XP users were getting error messages when they tried to use forms on the site.
• The bank had wonderful online demos of how to do various transactions online, but once you were in the secure area of the site you could not see or access them. Thus people were unlikely to try new services.
• Customer service staff had little idea of where things were on the site, so they were not able to help walk people through the process the first few times.

Best of Both Worlds: Finding what works well in old & new sites

Situation: The client, a small manufacturer of paper products that was trying to generate more sales from its website, had hired a recent IT graduate to re-design its website. We were brought in by the Search Engine Optimization firm that was working with the client. They'd seen the new proposed site and were worried that it was going to hurt sales.

Approach: We sent out two groups of testers. One group tested the existing website and the other tested the proposed new site.

Results: The new site had several enhancements that were appreciated by the customers, such as the addition of a search feature and clearer product descriptions. However, the graphic design of the test site was more confusing and harder to read than that of the old site. As a result, the proportion of users who felt, after looking at the home page, that they could trust this company to do their work well had decreased from 100% to only 73%.

Specific conversion-enhancing changes made as a result of the site review included:

• Adding a “How to Order” section that is visible prominently throughout the site.
• Highlighting the company's main benefit on its home page. Many users had not realized that the manufacturer would do small orders.
• Put a “how to work with us” page on the site. Walks users through what the typical steps are, what factors they need to consider, and how the company can help them make those decisions sensibly.
• Renaming the "instant quote" feature to "Free online quote" to reflect the reality that the results were not instant. Many prospects were irritated by the prior, misleading, terminology.

Want to know more? Read our case studies and learn more about our e-marketing expertise. Or call us, toll-free, at 1-866-211-7077 (Outside North America dial +1-780-444-5645) or send an e-mail to: contact@webmysteryshoppers.com.