By Fiona Walker
I have been looking back at some successful bank slogans from yesteryear. They include such gems as ‘Here for you’; ‘The listening bank’; ‘Helpful banking’; ‘We like to say yes’; and ‘Simple. Personal. Fair’. Of course, these all date from an era when the customer was king, local branches were available for smaller communities and there were ample cashiers available to deal with our everyday banking needs.
Today, appropriate slogans would read somewhat differently. How about ‘Use the automatic teller’; ‘Personal banking? You must be joking’; ‘Last remaining branch’ or ‘Not really bovvered’?
Jersey used to be dotted with sub-branches for all of the main banks. A couple of weeks ago, we heard that yet another satellite branch was closing, meaning not only a loss of local convenience and service but also 18 jobs and livelihoods. According to the banks themselves, fewer customers are using the branches as more are doing their banking online.
From a customer perspective, however, I would suggest that we are being pushed to use alternatives out of necessity rather than choice. Those who seek to use banking facilities in person frequently find that they are faced with long queues and, quite often, indifferent service. Perhaps the idea is to make the whole experience so disagreeable that clients do indeed choose to use alternative methods of banking. Or perhaps an alternative bank.
And they’re not the only ones. Remember when British Airways pledged ‘To fly, to serve’ and offered to ‘Take more care of you’, Avis reminded their clients that ‘We try harder’ and my personal favourite, courtesy of South African Airways: ‘We measure the miles by your smiles?’ Advertising was aimed at gaining market share by enhancing the customer experience, a far cry from the attitudes that are prevalent today.
Try calling one of the airlines – or just about any other sizeable business – and you will soon lose the will to live. Chances are, once you have selected ‘press button one, two, three or four’ you will be subjected to an interminable wait, while an irritating choice of electronic muzak is piped down the phone at you. Periodically, there will be a brief hiccup on the soundtrack, prompting a quick burst of delight as you assume that you’re about to be transferred to a real person. But no; it’s just the loop resetting itself, in readiness for you to suffer all over again. By the time an operator finally comes on the line, you’ve either forgotten what you were going to talk about or have been so riled by the recording that you’re ready to explode.
Worse still is when the call is unexpectedly disconnected – either before or after finally making contact with an operator – and you are left back at square one. Automation only works when it is fit for purpose.
And then, of course, there are those websites that don’t even offer a phone number for customers. How easy it is for them to ignore a query or complaint when the only means of contact is by email.
They say that everything that goes around comes around, and I’m looking forward to the day when customer service comes back into fashion. There are still occasional glimpses of the sort of service I’m talking about.
I recently ordered a vacuum cleaner online (this particular make is only available online) which arrived within three days, but there was a fault with the motor.
A quick phone call to a real person representing the company resulted in an apology and a replacement being despatched within a day. Cue a satisfied customer and future loyalty assured.
At a local supermarket, I remarked that the flowers I bought earlier in the week had died within a couple of days. I wasn’t looking for restitution, but the assistant insisted on finding a replacement for my purchase and checked the blooms thoroughly to ensure they were in good condition. Result: another satisfied customer.
Businesses use huge budgets to promote a positive image of their brands to the public, but in this world of online critics, whether they sink or swim is equally likely to be determined by the way they treat their customers.
Take a look at ‘Good or Bad Jersey Business’ on Facebook; with more than 36,000 members (out of an Island population of little more than 100k), a negative review can have an immediate and massive impact.
Customer-centred service is in danger of becoming a unique selling point rather than the norm. But, to quote American brand builder Jason Langella: ‘If you don’t look after your customers, someone else will.’
