This epidemic is not unique to any single industry. In fact, it's viral across nearly every imaginable vertical. But the world of financial services and payments is a prime example. Financial institutions, merchants and third-party service providers all seem to have forgotten about the customer.

Don't believe me?

• Have you ever had an excellent experience in your bank branch (the teller knows your name, you didn't have to wait in line, an easy ATM transaction) and then later that day or even that week, you called your bank's credit card service center - navigating through the frustrating computer voice menu? Never getting to where you wanted? Your call got dropped and had to call back in?
• Have you ever looked at your reward points balance and been excited to know that you could fly somewhere for free and then you called in to the redemption center only to find out that the flight options were limited or it took a long time to get through the booking process?
• Have you ever received a merchant promotional offer from your credit card company, then went to that merchant only to have the clerk tell you that they have no idea about the promotion?

Stymied internal processes, antiquated systems, and a lack of coordination across channels destroy any chance to create a positive experience that builds a foundation of customer loyalty. These examples merely scratch the surface of possible failed customer experiences. And they are all internal pitfalls - not external competitive forces - which cause "loyal" customers to look elsewhere or be enticed by competitive promises. In a saturated, commoditized and homogeneous market like payments - that is a recipe for disaster.

Don't get me wrong, customers haven't been permanently purged from memory, but they certainly aren't front and center either. Whether they are a cardholder, a mobile payments user or a purchaser of goods at a retailer, customers are more than analyzed pieces of data from a focus group or survey. And looking after them means more than building a product or positioning a brand around them.

The problem is that from a company perspective, customer experience and loyalty live in individual silos and are centered around products, prices, technology, brands or channels. In the customer's eyes, loyalty comes from the "relationship" that the customer has with a company, not individual departments. Unfortunately, customer loyalty is constantly challenged. Lifetime loyalty - a very rare thing these days - is based solely on trust. And trust can only come from positive experiences. This is where all industries fail to focus - on the complete customer experience.

There are a few critical steps involved in creating a total customer experience. Although simplified below into bullet points, they are each important undertakings and there is no such thing as "cutting corners" when it comes to the customer:

• Understand what the customer wants and how to tell them about it. Seems simple, right? It is actually more complex than you think especially when one considers that most humans do not know what they want until they see it. The onus falls on you to cast a wide net of ideas, messages and images and harness the critical elements for each customer segment.
• Observe the customer path through your organization. Identify the pitfall areas in your organization (call center, mail response times, branch wait times, etc) and re-pave the way to ensure that all touch points become positive experiences for the customer.
• Be as loyal to the customer as they are to you. Reward them - not just with benefits and tangible rewards, but acknowledge them. A simple "thank you" is a woefully underutilized gesture in business today.

Woodrow Wilson once said, "Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice." We think it's time for the banks, channel partners, and service providers to make a little short-term sacrifice in the form of investment expense in order to build true lifetime relationships with the customer.

Forget your customers, and they'll forget you. Put effort and resources into their experiences and relationship with you, and they will reward you with their loyalty and profitability.