Customer Experience Doesn’t Break In The Summer
Visiting the beach? Enjoying a BBQ? Don’t disappoint your customers!
Summer is associated with many fun activities that include taking much-needed time off to recharge your batteries. And while we may all focus on a little R&R at this time of year, we need to realize that the CE (the customer experience,that is) does not take a break simply because the weather is nice.
As we firm up the results from our 2010 Small Business Banking Report, we’ve noticed a very interesting trend while measuring customer experience. Our survey of national small business banking customers shows that many individuals are dissatisfied with the service they have received during summer months.
TRUE STORY: An owner of a $6 million professional services business reported that she recently contacted a bank to inquire about opening a new checking and credit line relationship. The process started fine, but then correspondence halted. Ten days later she received an email response that read, “I apologize for the delay. I was with my familyat the beach.” The customer was astounded that this manager had the audacity to, 1) Not have anyone else at the bank continue to update her with the approval process, and, 2) Explain that the reason for the poor service was a vacation! Sadly, the “vacation” excuse is used much more frequently than we would like to report.
People do not stop banking during the summer so why should you provide less-than-impressive service during this time? Top-notch customer experience should be a year-round goal for any financial institution. The summer months present a valuable opportunity to stand out from competition that may be lacking on their customer experience initiatives, as well as a great time to boost your customer loyalty and advocacy.
