The mention of excellence in customer service delivery in this part of the world is often met with some apprehension due to experiences that point to the contrary. In the midst of the seeming gloom, however, Stanbic Bank Ghana has, in many ways, distinguished itself as a leader in the delivery of excellent customer service.
The bank’s road to excellence in service delivery began with a deep commitment to make the client the centre of the Business and Operating Model to drive a culture of obsessed client well-being, continuous improvement and innovation to deliver on their customer promise.
The journey began with deliberate measures that had endorsement from the people at the helm of the bank. The Chief Executive, Executive Committee and Head of Client Experience initiated steps to drive a mindset and cultural shift in the entire organisation with a dedicated team in place to drive the agenda.
The mindset and culture shift were not targetted at only the frontline staff, but also at the entire workforce, with the understanding that excellent client experience can only happen if it is an end-to-end delivery. This ensured that the importance of delivering exceptional service and transforming client experience were brought to the fore.
To reinforce their commitment to excellence, Stanbic Bank developed a Service Charter to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the bank and the client, service principles and the standards by which the bank operates. This initiative was probably the first in the Standard Bank Group, and the purpose is to drive continuous awareness of the standards the bank stands for. The initiative also ensures that new employees are exposed to and actually imbibed with the ideals of excellent customer service delivery.
Beyond the people, systems and process are also critical in ensuring the best customer experience. The next logical step in building excellence in customer service delivery was to ensure the effectiveness of the bank’s systems and streamline the processes, procedures and even the solutions the bank delivers to its clients. To ensure that this was not a fad, a Business Improvement Team has been instituted by Stanbic Bank to ensure that the systems, processes and procedures are mapped and documented.
Another initiative that gives credibility to Stanbic Bank’s commitment to excellent customer service delivery was the introduction of Salesforce, a world-class customer relationship management platform that gives a 360 view of the client in order to understand their needs and circumstance to provide tailor-made solutions in a timely and convenient manner. The Salesforce platform also enables the bank to leverage data and insights to deliver optimal solutions anytime, anywhere.
With the understanding that ‘what gets measured gets done or respected’, there are KPIs and measurements in place to track progress at any given time relative to customer service delivery. A Service Control team is also in place to drive turnaround time and enforce service level agreements.
Clients’ needs are dynamic and very fluid and, therefore, it is critical that organisations stay close to them to solicit feedback to be able to adapt to the changing demands. It is also important that systems are put in place to ensure continuity and relevance due to the constantly changing customer demands; and in this vein, Stanbic Bank Ghana’s initiatives provide a good model of what an excellent customer service delivery enterprise should look like.
