Retail Banking Customer Loyalty Explored in Survey
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Bain & Company, Inc.’s “Customer Loyalty in Retail Banking: Global Edition 2014” survey investigated how people bank and how banks are responding to meet customer needs through improved distribution and service channels. Highlights of their findings include:
- Banking customers now handle more of their banking interactions via smartphones and tablets than through any other channel.
- Bank’s mobile app use increased 19 percentage points during 2014, with strong increases across all age groups in most markets.
- The mobile channel has become a key contributor to grow customer loyalty that translates to customers buying more products and making more referrals.
- While mobile continues to grow, about 60% of customers surveyed were omnichannel using a combination of digital and physical channels.
- NPS (net promoter score) was higher for omnichannel customers: “16 percentage points higher than the NPS of customers using only digital channels and 22 points higher than the NPS of those using only physical channels.
What are implications for your bank? Aramini Management recommends the following critical business practices:
- Ensure customers experience informative interactions reflecting bank services and products across channels.
- Customers are still visiting branches and contacting call centers: when developing digital channels, don’t overlook the continued importance of staff social and sales skills.
- Bank employees must exhibit strong cross-selling and customer-centric interpersonal skills along with a depth of product knowledge.
- Employees, are neither territorial nor work in a silo, but understand the bank’s organizational structure, total picture and product processes to ensure knowledgeable referrals and to expedite problem resolution.
- Bank employees work as a cohesive team demonstrating positive and productive working relationship with each other.
- Know your brand and ensure its message is represented and communicated accurately and consistently among employees and across all market contact points.
“You Role as Brand & Marketing Champion”
“Your Role as Brand and Marketing Champion” will be presented by John Aramini of Aramini Management at the Mahwah Chamber of Commerce Luncheon in November.
John discusses the notion that – whether you are an established business owner, senior manager, starting a new enterprise or looking for work – you must be the leading advocate for your business and yourself.Learn what that role looks like and leave the session with practical ideas to begin defining your brand as a foundation for creating a marketing narrative.
For location and registration information, click https://www.mahwah.com.
“Perfection Comes Little By Little Through Many Numbers”
Greek sculptor Polykletis the Elder wrote that 2500 years ago in 450 BC. It captures an essential management practice for today: collect data in a patient and disciplined way, building on earlier information, to achieve incremental improvements.
It implies having key performance indicators (KPIs) and the measurement tools to track results to tell you if your business practices are leading to sustained growth. Some guidelines:
- Insure KPIs, performance goals, and measurement tools exist for all phases of your business and sub-departments.
- Incorporate KPIs into the staff performance management system to create performance reviews custom-tailored by position to reinforce expected behavior and results linked to your business mission.
- Institute a disciplined process of regular review and reporting of performance data down to the sub-department level.
- Important to design KPIs and measurement tools specific to new business initiatives. Ask yourself: “What are we attempting to achieve? Will the organization and customer value the service?”
- Implement planning and follow-up procedure to track progress against established milestones for new business initiatives.
- Performance data should be valid, reliable and verifiable: it measures what it is supposed to measure.
- Instill being performance data driven as a way of operating for all staff.
ADD SALES PROSPECTING TO YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY
With ever increasing competition and sales expectations needed for growth, more businesses are hiring sales people, while others are transitioning some of their employees – including themselves – into a direct sales role. They are generating sales activity using social media, print and digital advertising, and search engine optimization to drive web traffic.
But they are finding these tactics are not the end all solution. In response, they are integrating direct sales and sales prospecting as part of their marketing mix to increase revenue for their businesses. Here are guidelines to launch a sales prospecting effort at your company:
- Prospecting can be the most time consuming part of the sales process involving regular planning, follow-up and qualifying to locate viable prospects among the unscreened leads in the marketplace. This requires your assessment of who potentially can be a customer.
- Develop a sales incentive plan for your sales people that weighs your budget, incremental revenue opportunities, and motivational value for the sellers.
- Review your current customer base to develop a profile of your typical customer. Start with your top customers and develop criteria to qualify and target prospects.
- Targeting qualifiers could include industry, geography, and company size by sales volume.
- Focus on your target market to improve efficiency and to leverage productivity in closing deals.
- Develop an introductory opening-line tailored to the business called on.
- Create a “prospecting” offer that is a special deal that gets the prospect’s attention to learn more.
- Anticipate what the sales objections will be and have responses prepared.
- Block out time for direct sales activities: cold-calls, follow-ups and appointments.
Customers Are Switching To The Competition
Accenture 2013 Global Consumer Pulse Survey found that:
- 51% of U.S. consumers switched service providers in the past year due to poor customer service experiences, up 5% from 2012.
- 81% said the company could have done something differently to prevent them from switching.
Are your customers switching to your competition? Are they getting ready to switch? Where do you start to improve customer retention at your organization?
Surveying your customers is a first step to obtain quality assurance and satisfaction measures. This can be a post customer service call questions and customer relationship surveys conducted periodically.
Improving customer service at your organization should include the review of business practices and the working relationships among internal customers. Everyone takes a turn being a “customer” or “provider” to another co-worker.
Realize that business processes and staff behavior does have an impact on co-worker relationships. This creates an image of your organization that is readily perceived by the external customer and community.
Trust me, your staff will have valuable insights and examples on service gaps and improvement opportunities. You will need to have the courage and thick skin to question your staff for their input on service. I do not suggest this unless you are really open-minded to what you will hear and are prepared to effectively respond with action. Ask them the following:
1) What causes poor customer service at our organization and your department?
2) What do you think our organization and your department can do to improve customer service and retain customers?
3) What do you think , that I as your manager, can do to improve customer service?
4) What do you think you can do to improve your own customer service effectiveness?
5) What do you see as improvement benefits?