news and opinion
Unfortunately, the position the banks now find themselves in has been made significantly worse by the relationship, or more accurately, lack of relationship brands have with their customers. Banking has become increasingly commoditised over the last twenty years; a shift that has gone hand in hand with the breakdown of the one to one interaction customers once enjoyed with their banks. Granted, it's near impossible for banks to recapture the essence of days gone by, when bank managers would know each and every customer by name. As customers our needs have grown exponentially; the complexity of the financial affairs of every customer serviced by a branch would require superhuman skills should one person be tasked with remembering and truly understanding them all.
But this should not excuse banks from endeavouring to develop workable and practical communication with customers. Managing our finances is arguably one of the most important and sensitive tasks we're faced with - and we're likely to be far more responsive, trusting and confident in banking brands which can offer us a personal relationship.
One positive result of the market turmoil we're seeing may well be a shift in focus for banks, away from the commodity view to a much more service led approach. If service does become recognised and embraced as a key differentiator, now is the time for banks to begin exploring the changes that need to be made to embody this new relationship-led model. But before any major changes occur, the immediate issue of the lack of confidence and trust the public have in banks needs to be addressed.
The situation for all the banks, even if they haven't featured directly in the media spotlight is serious, summed up by the increase in call volumes experienced by their call centres. In fact, call any bank right now and you're likely to face a long wait before being able to speak to a person at the other end. Consumer confidence is so low that customers universally are looking for human reassurance that their money is safe, and call centres - often the only human contact available - will no doubt be considerably overstretched.
The solution to this comes in two-parts. Pressure on call centres can be alleviated to some extent through the use of web, email, SMS and automated announcements, so that lines are more available when speaking with a person is considered critical by the customer. Alongside these short term measures should be the immediate increase of call handling abilities; extra capacity can meet the usual demands of telephone banking whilst simultaneously providing exceptional levels of service; allaying consumer concerns and restoring calm. I would strongly advocate this combined approach as opposed to increasing capacity alone, but where greater bandwidth is the answer banks must make sure they get the most return from it, by setting the foundations for an improvement in service to be delivered in the long term.
Good service requires more than just a well stocked call centre; physically having enough call handlers is an important part of getting service right, but equally the information call handlers are armed will be instrumental in guiding the relationship, and generating the most relevant interaction between brand and customer. Equally, the approach call handlers take with customer enquiries has to shift; the commodity view is to deal with the enquiry politely, yet quickly and efficiently in a very transactional manner which is driven by the bank's agenda. Some of this is a necessary approach - I don't advocate handlers chatting away to customers for hours - but providing a service experience that is human and relevant - something which makes the customer feel they are being listened to and valued as an individual for each specific interaction - can have significant impact on the nature of the relationship that develops as a result.
The intricacies of moving toward a service-led approach are far more numerous and complex than can be summed up in 800 words, but the principle behind this shift can be communicated in eight. Understand the customer and deliver on their needs. To reach this goal banks have a challenge ahead of them, but also a unique opportunity to instigate a much needed change in the way they do business. If they get it right customers will experience a positive change in the way they interact with banks, with trust and confidence vastly improved, and the banks themselves stand to benefit from deep and lasting emotional, loyal and profitable relationships.
Click here to view the article as it appeared in the magazine
Click here to download Adobe Reader for free
