Insights ¦ FCA Consumer Support

Key Take Aways

1. Most firms are proactively considering customer needs, deploying effective frameworks that tailor support and monitor outcomes.

2. Personalisation and understanding of customer characteristics, including vulnerability and language proficiency, are vital in designing customer support.

3. Digital support channels are enhanced to lead to better outcomes, with some firms integrating automated tools and signposting to improve accessibility.

4. Common areas for improvement include aligning support processes with target markets and ensuring post-sale support is as accessible as pre-sale.

5. Firms should challenge their existing support approach to better understand customer needs and deliver outcomes that support financial objectives.

6. Journey mapping, customer profiling, and removing unnecessary barriers are central to delivering effective support.

7. Embedding a customer-centric culture requires substantive leadership, targeted training, and aligned incentives across all levels of the organisation.

8. Monitoring customer support outcomes effectively necessitates a mix of qualitative and quantitative metrics, including innovative MI tools.

9. Outsourced support functions require robust oversight to ensure they contribute to good customer outcomes, not just operational metrics.

10. Many firms still rely heavily on transactional data and complaints, rather than broader, outcome-focused metrics, indicating room for a more comprehensive monitoring approach.

11. Cultural and governance measures (training, incentives, senior oversight) are increasingly recognised as fundamental in embedding a customer-centric mindset.

12. The review underscores the importance of continuous improvement through testing, feedback, and addressing root causes of poor customer outcomes.

Key Statistics

• 81% of firms in the quantitative survey reported that customer-facing employees have easy access to an internal mechanism for disclosing vulnerability.

• 48% of firms offer dedicated telephone support for vulnerable customers; 44% offer dedicated email support.

• 66% of firms in the survey have specialist training programmes on vulnerability for employees.

• 19% of consumers found it very or fairly difficult to find the right contact information during recent interactions, indicating accessibility issues.

• 13% of surveyed firms reported not conducting any quality assurance on their support channels.

Key Discussion Points

• The importance of understanding customer cohorts, including vulnerable groups, to tailor support effectively.

• Integrating evolving digital tools and proactive monitoring to improve customer experience and prevent harm.

• The significance of removing unreasonable barriers and designing friction points thoughtfully in customer journeys.

• The necessity of embedding a customer-focused culture through leadership, incentivisation, and training.

• The value of broad and outcome-oriented metrics for monitoring customer support performance rather than solely transactional data.

• Challenges related to ensuring consistency in post-sale support, especially where third-party providers are involved.

• The need for support channels that adapt to diverse customer needs, including those with impairments or complex circumstances.

• How firms are using journey mapping and customer personas to pre-empt and address friction points.

• The ongoing requirement for firms to test communication effectiveness to ensure clear, accessible support.

• The role of governance forums and regular reviews to reinforce continuous improvement in customer outcomes.

• The importance of timely and substantive cultural change at board and senior management level to meet the Duty’s expectations.

• The potential for targeted MI tools, such as speech analytics, to provide richer insights into customer interactions and support quality.

Document Description

This article presents the findings of a review by the FCA into firms’ approaches to the consumer support outcome under the Consumer Duty. It highlights good practices, such as proactive understanding of customer needs, digital innovations, and embedded cultural change, alongside areas requiring improvement like aligning support processes with target markets, ensuring effective post-sale support, and broadening outcome measurement. The review underscores the importance of a flexible, outcomes-focused approach, driven by leadership and continuous monitoring, to foster a customer-centric culture across the financial services sector.