The financial services sector continues to battle against the enormous stigma of being untrustworthy to its customers as well as an unreliable, disconnected employer. Customer confidence, remains at an all-time low and the industry recognises that its attempts to rebuild bridges with customers and account holders have not necessarily been working.
Annual cuts in investment for growth by the industry has been detrimental to suppliers with many businesses finding margins squeezed and contracts shortened. This has been very difficult for suppliers to the financial services sector and in turn has knocked the confidence out of the overall London job market.
Until recently, many skilled job seekers have purposefully chosen not to work in the financial services sector for the very reasons mentioned above, however, we have noticed a number of changes happening in this sector and hopefully, the building of confidence in the sector as an appealing place to work . The reasons for this can be attributed to an increase in efforts to rebuild financial brands and determine how to win back customers and consumer confidence.
In additional new personal finance offerings from companies with no baggage or stigma attached, for example, Tesco, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer, as well as advances in technology and 100% online financial services providers, means that the traditional banks face new challenges in how to work in a market where local walk in branches are not needed as much as they once were.
There has been a much more steady investment in market research and marketing as a whole to raise the profile of the sector as a trusted service by establishing what consumers are thinking and what drives them to make decision. Investments in marketing communications have increased as the fight to raise brand perception with internal and external stakeholders becomes ever more aggressive. Organisations are working harder in an effort to retain and increase their customer base by building much closer relationships with the people that count.
One may argue that despite the difficulties the sector faces, there has never been a more interesting time to work in this sector. In what has for many years now, been viewed as a damaged, traditional industry, banks are being much more proactive now in maintaining customer engagement and deploying new techniques to maintain their competitiveness. Many skilled marketing professionals want to be a part of this legacy and thrive on the challenge to raise the confidence and brand perception of the sector.