// MAKING YOURSELF EASY TO BUY FROM
Client: Barclays
Country: UK
Title: Loans Not Proceeded With
Challenge:
To find a cost-effective solution to the category problem of ‘dropped baskets’ eg prospects who start but fail to complete an online loan application.
Campaign:
Sponge was appointed in 2008 to conduct a series of ‘test and learn’ activities across the Bank’s different business streams. The goal was to establish real-world RoI, and thus identify which programmes should become Business As Usual.
Particular success was achieved with the ‘Loans Not Proceeded With’ initiative. Indeed, the revenues generated by this one activity more than covered the overall cost of the ‘test and learn’ programme.
The first step was to re-design the online forms to capture prospects’ mobile numbers and secure positive opt-in.
Those who had opted-in for mobile communications but had failed to complete were then contacted by personalised SMS with the offer of a free call to help guide them through the final stages of the loan process
In order to maximise learnings, prospects were contacted either 5, 7 or 10 days after dropping out.
Results:
More than 50% of those contacted within the 5-day cell went on to convert, a success rate 300% higher than that achieved by a parallel email test.
We attribute this success to two key factors. First: the power of Mobile to deliver relevant, timely communication over a channel that consumers instinctively trust. Second: the importance of understanding consumers’ ‘demand for convenience’ and creating programmes that deliver directly against that need.
