Anger management

zoom

Retail banking may not be the sector that brings in the biggest profits, but it certainly attracts the most attention when things go wrong. Flick through any Middle Eastern newspaper and you are bound to find at least one letter complaining about slow or incompetent service from banks.

One way to see where customer service is lacking is to take an outsider's view. Ethos Consultancy conducts mystery shopper visits on UAE banks, using people that match the profile of the banks' typical customers. They go through exactly the same procedures as real customers: finding a parking space, entering the branch, looking for signs, taking a number and then being served. Ethos also recruits existing bank customers to talk about their experiences, to ensure that it is obtaining a realistic view of the service level.

Robert Keay, managing director of Ethos, says that mystery shoppers can be the eyes and ears of senior executives, who may not have the opportunity to see what is going on at the ground level.

"The mystery shopper's role is to establish facts," says Keay. "How long did it take to get served? When you were served, did they say ‘good morning'?" Bank branches are rated according to several criteria, covering physical appearance and the friendliness, knowledge and helpfulness of its staff.

The observations have even included tellers eating fast food during their shifts or interrupting customers to answer a personal phone call. "Liberties are being taken more in the banking sector than in any other sector," says Keay.

He believes banks can learn a lot from the hospitality sector, and is keen to promote the concept of five-star service. As part of this, Ethos can also carry out an Employee Knowledge Assessment (EKA), in which an employee chosen at random is quizzed about products and procedures. Product knowledge is crucial in the Middle East, where financial products are changing so quickly.

"Banks are product-driven, but the last thing they think about is how this gets delivered," says Keay.

"If employees struggle with product knowledge, they are also going to struggle with customer service."

However, some banks are starting to invest more in training. "One of the UAE banks is in the process of setting up an academy branch," says Keay. "That will be their best practice branch on the high street that they will use as a model for training their employees."

Keay believes that banks are now feeling pressure to improve their customer service. This is due to a number of factors, including reduced income from IPO applications and a changing customer base: more and more expatriates are staying in the GCC for the long term, for example, meaning that they are more likely to change banks if they are unsatisfied with the level of service.

"A change has kicked in during the last 15 months," he says. "The big difference I've seen is that senior people are now taking an interest in customer service, which we've never seen here before.

"Clearly, service is starting to become a differentiator. In our opinion, it will start to become the single differentiator."

Keay believes there is one bank in the UAE that stands out from the others when it comes to customer service - the winner of last year's Ethos banking survey, RAKBANK. "Not only is there a vision, there's the delivery of that at the grassroots level," he explains. "I know for a fact many of the other banks now target RAKBANK's staff for recruitment. It's a compliment to RAKBANK."

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

USER COMMENTS (0 COMMENTS)

POST A COMMENT

CLICK HERE TO POST A COMMENT

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.