Hi Leeya, tell us about yourself and share some background about Delta Capita (and how you ended up at Delta Capita)
My role prior to Delta Capita was Global Vice President of Marketing for a Financial Services firm servicing the asset management industry. I joined Delta Capita during COVID as CMO not only did this answer to my career aspirations, but I was drawn to the vision and creating value which made the opportunity at Delta Capita a platform for growth and change. Being part of an environment of designing and developing new services and tools leveraging our FinTech portfolio companies is a great space for ideation and innovation. I drive and manage two strategies; as I also perform the CMO role for our parent company, Prytek. Prytek runs a number of verticals and Delta Capita is the financial services arm of Prytek.
How much has the consumer sentiments changed in your space during 2020, and how do you expect 2021 to look like?
The ongoing compliance and risk management agenda and the cost pressures on our clients’ businesses are continuing to distract them from their core purpose. In 2021 we will support our clients to focus on their core propositions that truly differentiate them, whilst Delta Capita runs their complex non-differentiating functions. In 2021, banks and more broadly Financial Services firms, must focus on what is differentiating for their clients and consider alternative approaches to everything else. The biggest opportunity for financial services institutions this year is to think beyond traditional operating models and harness the true potential of new technologies.
The role of CX in times of crisis
Tell us about CX’s role during the pandemic crisis – as CMO how do measure your customers’ engagements?
During the pandemic, we have focused on helping our customers access expert content to enable them on their technology and transformation journey. As CMO I have segmented our customer experience focus into interactions through the web and social media. I have looked at the amount of footfall on our website, the number of inbound inquiries to Delta Capita, the engagement on our social activity, and the industry recognition of our capability in Financial Services. Of course, each of our Business Operating Platform as a Service (BOPaaS) offerings has its own metrics to measure customer satisfaction. For example, a critical differentiator in our CLM business is our focus on quality which leads to a very high degree of customer satisfaction and repeat business.
How much has the CMO’s role changed in the social distancing era – what role digital transformation has in this crisis?
Through collaborating, the CMO role is focused on building trust and loyalty, and trust builds loyalty, engagement, and advocacy. Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust in 2020 shows that in the face of global crises, action and advocacy leads to trust. We have been focused less on a hard-sell and rather leading on building our brand and nurturing leads with value-adding content, to help grow our customer business. CMOs will focus on creating new commercial and delivery models by increasing trust, loyalty, and retention through brand building.
How is Delta Capita using customer experience to drive innovation?
Delta Capita’s vision ‘Reinventing the Financial Services Value Chain’ enables our clients to focus on their customer experience and drive innovation, whilst we invest in core services that are critical to every Financial Institution. We provide a Business Operating Platform-as-a-Service. This is a trusted best in class service for Financial Services, powered by the best and most modern technology. We help Financial Services institutions reduce costs and improve business processes and technology that allow our clients to focus on propositions that power their business while Delta Capita operates critical functions on their behalf. We help our clients adopt modern technology in a mutualized way, dramatically reducing the cost of implementation enabling them to be a healthier and more performant business. A core focus for us is to constantly scan the ever-changing Fintech landscape to drive innovation in our Managed Services. Our clients can then focus on their customer experience without the distraction of worrying about critical but non-differentiating activities.
What was the biggest lesson you learned in 2020?
My biggest lesson last year was ‘enhanced curiosity’, I guess leaning into my curious mind. I have always been a curious individual, but last year I realized that through the changing times I have been supercharged with asking more questions. I have an insatiable thirst for knowledge but as a curious marketer, you want to learn more and walk in your customer’s shoes. In the words of Seth Godin (marketing marvel) ‘If you are not curious, you are not going to learn’. Asking the right questions are integral, I personally feel there is no better time to be in B2B marketing than now. Technology is allowing us to piece together intelligence, make informed decisions about our investments and personalize messages with laser-focused targets.
2020 was the year of webinars and online events. What was your favorite one?
Well, it is hard to say that I had a favorite one, however the ‘Women’s Leadership Day 2020 Streaming Event: Fuelling Female Ambition by JPMorgan Chase & Co.’ was an interesting online event. The session tackled issues of women’s development and topics of inclusion and diversity. A key takeaway was ‘Consistency of Action’ gaining a real step-change in diversity and inclusion. I particularly enjoyed Ginni Rometty’s talk on being sustainable in diversity and also in inclusion. She mentioned that we each decide. It’s part of our job to be responsible stewards. What was powerful was the statement that ‘diversity is a number; inclusion is a choice that people make. And so, you have to reinforce it in everything you do.’ You cannot focus on everything, but you can make a start in building awareness, which is the first step towards real change.
It looks like working from home is going to stay with us for the foreseeable future. How should CMOs gear up to the changing times?
We are all operating in busy times, everybody experiencing their own challenges but for me, it has provided an opportunity to strengthen relationships as you can engage more frequently with your customers and create one community. The same with your teams, the key to your customer and teams’ relationships will be trust. Trust in an organization is vital and as CMO’s we need to learn how to foster it. Metrics for companies in the top quartile of great cultures, show employees have more energy, are more engaged and productive. How to manage trust will enable behaviors that foster these trusted relationships, which has a great impact on improving performance.
