By Will Novosedlik

In this series, we ask top industry execs and marketers across the country about their biggest fears and concerns. What are the things of marketing nightmares? This week, we caught up with Vivianne Gauci, CMO and SVP customer experience at the HomeEquity Bank, about the biggest problems she faces. 

At HomeEquity Bank, Gauci has worked in various marketing and CX roles since 2015. Previously, she held senior marketing roles at American Express and AVIVA Canada.

So what are your biggest challenges these days, Vivianne?

Economic uncertainty. People are going through tough times. So they tend to have inertia. You have people who are questioning what it is that they’re doing and how they should do it. Particularly Canadians aged “55 and better,” as I like to say. When you have a product like ours (CHIP reverse mortgages), which isn’t necessarily for everyone, how do you continue to have more people include it in their consideration set as one of the ways in which to navigate retirement?

How are you getting them to do that?

It comes down to a conversation with our customers. And it often incorporates multiple people. It’s not just one person that’s coming to us. It usually involves a spouse or a significant other and sometimes other family members. So coupling the marketing with a great customer experience to make sure people can move along the decision path at their own pace – that’s all paramount for us. My responsibility is not just as a chief marketing officer. I also have responsibility for the customer experience. And that’s very purposeful. That was added to my mandate not too long ago, with the express purpose and understanding that the marketing and the customer experience work hand-in-hand.

Has HEB always had a commitment to customer experience?

The idea behind placing an emphasis on customer experience really came about as part of our CEO’s mandate to think about the next evolution in our growth story. And it really became apparent as our team worked through some of the options to consider that for a company that is exclusively focused on Canadians 55 plus, full stop. And so when you’re a bank, you’ve got the elements of safety and security embedded in the knowledge that you’re a regulated entity. But now you’ve got the power of being single-minded in your focus on who you cater to. There are no distractions about any other demographic except for Canadian homeowners 55 plus.

And that carries with it incredible advantages, right? We can understand how a customer thinks about this decision. We’ve never considered this as a regular mortgage decision. We’ve always known that this is a decision that takes time to digest and consider. We also understand that our demographic likes to be addressed and spoken to in a certain way. There’s also an element of nostalgia and of legacy with this age group. And they’re comfortable in the knowledge that getting this product to help their kids now doesn’t mean there’s going to be nothing left for them later.

How does that affect your comms planning?

When we’re designing websites or developing our creative, we need to be pacing ourselves in a certain way. This isn’t a demographic that watches YouTube while watching their cell phone, watching tv, and listening to the radio all at once, like I see my teenage son doing. This is different way of consuming information.

Are people’s attitudes towards retirement changing in these uncertain times?

I like to say that Canadians “55 and better” are getting younger every year. And so their preferences change. How they think about retirement has changed. The retirement of today isn’t the retirement of your grandparents or even your parents. So how do you integrate yourself into the lives of people who are living these full lives? And how do you acknowledge the fact that these are empowered individuals? The product takes some explaining, but as the conversation continues, they begin to understand how it works and there’s always a light bulb moment. At that point they have what they need to decide whether or not it’s for them. If it’s not, that’s ok, as long as we have the conversation.

What’s the most common misunderstanding people have about your product?

Many people are surprised to find out that customers usually only take about 30% of the value of their home. Some people even less than that. It’s basically a loan secured against the value of your home. You can take the money up front or you can take it over time. You have ultimate control over how you take the money and what happens down the line, because you can decide you wanna stay in your home for 15, 20 years, whatever the case may be. And when you’re ready to move or sell, then it’s a loan that you just repaid, and it’s the principal and the interest, just like any other loan, any other mortgage. So my biggest challenge is, and always will be, getting people to actually consider us and be willing to start having that conversation with us.

You’ve done a few campaigns that are focused on fraud. How do you approach the customer experience challenge within that context?

Part of the benefit of being a bank that’s exclusively dedicated to working with Canadians 55 plus is the fact that we do a lot of research and do a lot of listening to a narrow demographic. And because of that, we’ve learned a lot about the types of things that our demographic does and, and does not do when it comes potential fraud situations. I would say that years ago it was a demographic that was at much higher risk. It still is to a certain extent, but I would say that in the last few years they’ve come a long way. And what they are is much more cautious and much more aware online.

We always endeavour to educate our audience on what they need to look out for. So, for example, for this fraud awareness month, we developed an online tool where you can test how “unscammable” you are. You can go through it and learn about some of the common techniques that are being used by fraudsters today to try and trick people into handing over personal information or financial information.

Any other big challenges you’d care to mention?

I think the other thing is continuing to navigate this journey of merging the customer experience with the marketing. They’re done by two separate teams. They have their own set of practices and skill sets. So it’s very powerful when the two teams work together to turn those insights into a story. It’s a self-reinforcing loop. If you have great marketing communications but a lousy experience, it’s a waste and your repeat business will evaporate. On the other hand, a great customer experience can generate great word of mouth. Your customers end up doing some of the marketing for you. The rule is, say what you do, but make sure you do what you say. And that consistency is why we have these two teams reporting to the same team leader.