1

2

Can you think of a service in India that can be similarly revitalized to provide outstanding service quality? Explain how this can be done after describing the service you have in mind. Good customer service is the heart of banking service delivery. Banking is predominately a customer oriented business and good customer service is the key to banks growth and stability. The importance of extending speedy, efficient, fair and courteous customer service in banking industry is being regularly emphasised by the Government of India (GOI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI). They have set up various high level Working Groups and Committees which led to considerable improvement in customer service in banks. Any business that interacts with non-employees needs good customer service. Whether it is a small restaurant in the middle of the desert or a massive corporation that employs thousands, the way customers are treated will keep them coming back for more, or running away as fast as they can. Poor customer service usually stems from misunderstandings between the customer and the employee and it can cripple even the best business. Let us take the example of the way a bank that I work functions. I used to handle dispute resolution for the credit card systems. Once the customer files a dispute, we review the entire dispute documentation that has been filed by the customer. In case there is any missing documentation which could lead to the resolution of the dispute, the staff can contact the customer and seek for further documentation. This is how the system should work. However there are some employees who lack the sincerity and commitment towards their work which prompts them to handle the process inefficiently and also display a fair amount of negligence. They simply lack the empathy for the customer's problems. Sometimes we are confronted with disputes where the customer could dispute as many as 100 transactions. This means he is literally disputing the entire statement that has cycled. This entails a lot of work from the bank's perspective. Few employees, who receive such disputes, do not take any action due to the complexity that is involved and they just leave some unrelated comments on the system blaming the non-performance of the system and the kind. They just pend the dispute without providing any resolution to the customer.

3

The customer in the meanwhile keeps sending several communications to the bank enquiring about the status of the dispute resolution process. The employees lack empathy towards the customer. Customer in the bargain gets frustrated and agitated. The customer can even go to the extent of publishing his/her bad experience with the media which has happened many times. This will lead to loss of reputation to the bank. Even the simplest thing like updating the customer information in the system pertaining to the account opening process has many flaws. The customer always gets the run-around from one desk to the other. If a company provides poor customer service, it will have many disgruntled customers. Many companies have gone out of business because of poor customer service. More than ever, customers want to be treated with respect. The following could be some effects that result due to poor customer service: Lost Market Share When you provide poor customer service, you will lose market share. Your competitors will begin to take over your customers. A disgruntled customer will quickly spread the word about the poor service he received from your company. Decreased Profits Bad customer service can lead to decreased company profits. When profits tumble, stock value can decrease as well. This will adversely affect shareholders. Low Morale Your customer service department will become inefficient and ineffective. They will spend the majority of their time on the phone arguing with customers. This can lead to low morale and high turnover. No one wants to work for a company that is not top-notch. Change in Management Poor customer service can lead to a change in management. Sometimes a new leader can exercise a certain amount of discipline, which will turn things around. Increased Training Expenses If a company provides poor customer service, it will incur expenses to train employees on new techniques and procedures for customer service. The company will also have to train new employees as a result of the turnover. Expenses will increase, and sales will decrease. According to a survey conducted, the following factors could be attributed to poor customer service: Stress Stress is a factor in everyone's daily adult life. The smallest issue can set off an explosion of anger and tears from stress building up during a particularly bad day. Poor customer service can be caused by stress from both the customer and the employee's end. The customer may shout or get angry with the customer service representative due to the issue at hand, usually things the customer service employee has nothing to do with and is not at fault for. The customer may be frustrated directly with the company or another employee. The employee may be stressed due to personal problems or work-related problems and snap or become sarcastic with a customer with a difficult problem due to stress.

4

Lack of Motivation Lack of motivation within the company, or the employee simply not caring about the job of helping the customer may become a fault with the customer service department. In some cases customer service representatives may have their hands tied by company policy and may not be able to grant a customer's request. Many customer service representatives know their company's policy inside- out, but some do not care what the policy says and will deny a customer's requests just because they can or because it would be easier to hand off a customer to a supervisor or manager rather than deal with it themselves. They may think dealing with the customer is not worth their pay check or their time. Time Constraint Poor customer service may be a secondary issue to something like time constraints. In many customer service phone lines, employees must finish a call within a certain amount of time. Finishing early may put an employee on the fast track to bonuses, raises or other rewards within the company, whereas finishing late may earn him a trip to the manager's office or the unemployment line. As the time limit draws closer, some customer service representatives get nervous and may start to try to push a customer off the phone as quickly as possible. Whether it is the customer's fault, the employee's fault or a third party's fault (a computer running slow, for instance) this should never be done because it reflects very poorly on the customer service area. Suggestions to revitalize the service: Bank customer service is normally very efficient, however when you notice that your bank has become the butt of jokes and other snide remarks, it is time to revamp and pull in your customer service reps for the much needed training.

Notify present and new customers of your continued commitment to helping with any service concerns by posting signs in bank windows, drive-through areas and in on-hold phone messages. The signs can be as simple as a short slogan thanking the customer for their business and a telephone number for customer service assistance. When customers feel that your bank tellers and other service personnel are accessible, the customers will be more amenable to coming to you with their service concerns instead of switching banks. Happy customers are usually loyal customers.

Make an effort to engage the customers in some form of chit-chat at each meeting. If a customer walks up to a teller to make a deposit, thank the customer for choosing the bank again (they could have very well placed that money under their bed cushion instead of depositing it into the bank). Make a point of asking an open-ended question to the customer to elicit any information about their daily life. If the customer mentions they are having a bout with the flu, you will have a loyal customer the next time they visit if you have a pack of cough lozenges ready for them along with their regular transaction receipt. The next time that cold rears its head and they happen upon your care pack while searching for cold medicine, the bank will be remembered and appreciated.

Notify all customers immediately anytime a serious mishap appears with the normal business activities by text message or any other instant tool. Should a glitch happen that could cause customer accounts to be affected right at the weekend, the customer will be glad they were notified and able to make arrangements to secure their money.

5

Have a quality monitoring system in place. Do timely checks on the levels of service that the staffs are offering to the customers. This way the staff will be wary of any kind of negligence that they might want to show towards the work they do and will be cautious at all times. Make the staff accountable for poor quality of customer service and link this to the appraisal process. Make the staff accountable for any kind of customer complaints received for the bank. This will ensure that they are more accountable for the work they do and the kind of service they deliver.

Educate the staff about the best practices followed in different banks and have a daily devotional every day to discuss such points. Make it a point to keep the staff motivated at all times. This reflects directly on their customer service and can create a positive impact.

Explicit Services:

Increase the daily limit of ATM transactions for a customer.

Try not to charge the customer for cash transactions or transfers.

Do not charge the customer for over the counter credit card payments

Not charging the customers for branch visits. Implicit services:

Hire a courteous and friendly relationship manager who will make the entire process of banking a joyful and memorable experience.

Serve refreshments to the customers who are waiting their turn for making their transactions

Have a magazine stand so that customers could read magazine/newspapers while awaiting their turn

Have a slideshow running which gives some good banking tips and investment options to the customer.

Do you think a concept of superior service will work in India? What will accelerate it and what will work against it? Yes, the concept of superior service will work in India. Major portion of India's GDP is through the Services Sector. The following factors could accelerate the superior service:

Speed of Service – ensuring that when a customer contacts the organization, the inquiry or problem is handled timely, efficient and during the first contact.

Personalized service based on the customer profile and customer segmentation rules.

6

We need to bring about a paradigm shift in the way we provide our services. We need be more customer-centric and proactive in addressing the customer issues. Always put the customer first among all your priorities.

Have flexible business processes that respond to customer demands and the range of requests.

Examples include:

Service based on customer segmentation.

Providing the perception of dedicated support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week of customer service availability.

The customer contact personnel are the most critical factors affecting success. An efficient structure supports associates in meeting customer needs – with the necessary investment in the environment, skills and knowledge of associates. The following factors could decelerate the superior service:

Lack of well-trained staff: When an organization does not spend the time to fully train their people the consequence is poor service.

High internal costs could also deter us from providing good quality customer service.

Lack of sufficient infrastructure to carry on the day to day activities in our offices could also be an impediment for good customer service.