“Designing well is for everybody and reduces the risk and potential cost to the firm and mitigates the risk of detriment to those with additional needs.”

Our participants agreed that “designing well” means communications must be clear, simple and accessible for everyone. There should be a choice of channel – not all vulnerable customers want face-to-face support, with some welcoming webchat to discuss difficult financial circumstances while for others this extension of another synchronous channel will be a drag on their busy lives. Terms and conditions should be sufficiently flexible to accommodate change in circumstances after point of sale. Customer facing staff need to be trained and know what they can do to help someone who is vulnerable, rather than just handing them off to a vulnerability specialist.

“It’s not about filtering vulnerable customers own a special pathway,” said Tough. “Designing well is for everybody and reduces the risk and potential cost to the firm and mitigates the risk of detriment to those with additional needs.”

“One harm could come from five or six different types of vulnerability so I would rather teach people about the harm and focus on how we can mitigate that.”

It was a message that certainly resonated with many on the participants. “We have spent many years training our people to identify different types of vulnerability but really we should be focusing on the harm that vulnerability can cause,” said one participant “One harm could come from five or six different types of vulnerability so I would rather teach people about the harm and focus on how we can mitigate that. It means we have to pivot systems and support to sit around that.”

Our participants agreed that rather than trying to identify vulnerabilities, it was better to make it as easy as possible for customers to share their vulnerabilities in an empathetic and unintrusive way, whether that’s online, via the phone or face to face. “The more people realise we can do practical things to help them, the more they will come and tell us what’s going on and what support they need,” said one.

Vulnerable: a wide base

“Vulnerability isn’t set in stone…vulnerable isn’t a homogenous group of people”

It was clear that the participants felt the nature of vulnerability was changing. The pandemic has thrown huge numbers of customers into potentially vulnerable categories, with many facing financial distress for the first time and others battling mental health, physical health and bereavement issues as a result of the crisis. “Vulnerability isn’t set in stone,” said one participant. “People come and go. For some it’s transient; for others, it’s longer term.”

“It’s important to remember that vulnerable isn’t a homogenous group of people,” said another. “It’s very varied and diverse.” This diversity can be challenging for organisations trying to craft support and solutions.

“Some people may not feel they are vulnerable and they just want to have relevant products and services that meet their needs,” said one participant. “People don’t want to feel singled out or judged. How can we use our data to surface relevant information and channel that in a sensitive way to customers?”

Staff training and support has become a key issue for many organisations. The strains and stresses created by the pandemic are taking a toll on customers, and frontline staff are facing the fall-out. “People are more argumentative and more belligerent,” said one participant. “Things are ramping up and we’ve had some awful situations where customers are threatening to kill themselves. It’s very distressing for our staff, many of whom are very young and don’t have the life experience to deal with some of these extreme situations.”

Others agreed, noting there has been an increase in verbal abuse during the pandemic, both for contact centre staff and those in branches, some of whom even face physical abuse. All agreed the situation is expected to worsen in 2021 as job losses continue to mount and mortgage relief come to an end.

For frontline staff, the daily exposure to these levels of distress can be very damaging. “Their level of resilience has plummeted because of the stress,” said one participant. “Our distribution leaders are really focused on supporting the morale of frontline staff, who are dreading coming into work yet we are asking them to be more patient, calm and empathetic than ever.”

With many contact staff now working from home, it’s harder for organisations to deliver the support. “Before we would have team huddles and time-outs after difficult calls and we’re trying to find ways to keep that going while they are working from home,” said one participant. “We have a red flag process so they can get their manager to come and support them as if in a call centre, using call listening to get that real-time support and back up.”

Chris Childs of Smart Communications said technology can help by giving staff tools to anticipate difficult calls and adjust their response accordingly. “Data to identify behaviour associated with vulnerability prior to the interaction can help them manage the situation with the greatest level of care,” said Childs. “Tips and details on programs immediately surfaced in their workstations can help them respond quickly, craft the appropriate messages and provide the customer with resources for support, all helping the agent to be better prepared for this difficult task.”

Organisations are training mental health champions and empowering staff so they can do more to help customers. This gives staff some control and a feeling they are making things better, whilst also having the back-up of handing off to someone with the skills and authority to take it further if required.

Intervention and privacy: a thin line

“Sometimes we have to fulfil our duty to the customer, which is to let them spend their money the way they want to. It’s a very difficult area.”

Our particpants also discussed the limits of what they can do. Whilst friction can be added to journeys to help prevent fraud and scams, customers do have agency to make decisions about their own lives and have clearly defined privacy rights. “It can be very difficult for frontline staff when they can see someone is extremely vulnerable, who is spending recklessly or giving their benefits away to someone they’ve just met in the street,” said one banking executive. “The temptation is to step in and overrule the customer but, while it may be unpalatable, sometimes we have to fulfil our duty to the customer, which is to let them spend their money the way they want to. It’s a very difficult area.”

It was a thought-provoking and important discussion, and one that will certainly need revisiting as the pandemic and its fallout continues to impact customers.