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Questions On The Development Of Customer Relationship Management In Banking Sector
Q&A Session Between G-CEM Advisors And Members
Mr. Mier Ai, Operations Director, Shanghai Bertelsmann Culture Industry Co., Ltd
www.g-cem.org
Question: What ares should a bank pay attention in the course of a customer relationship management project, specifically in China with such a complex economic environment?
Orientation
Mr. Mier Ai, Operations Director, Shanghai Bertelsmann Culture Industry Co., Ltd
This could be summed up in one word: "orientation". Most commercial banks do not consider themselves as an agent providing service to customers where customers are clients who deserve to be served.
It starts at the counter. Many people experience an average waiting time of more than an hour and this wait goes on whilst staff behind the counter proceed with their work at a slow pace and laughing and joking at the same time. A personal anecdote:
Once I applied for a credit card from a well-established bank. I was asked to pick up the card myself at a designated counter by showing my ID card. That day, after waiting for nearly 40 minutes in the queue, the staff literally threw out a Gold Card and password to me without any appended documents or sealed envelope. I tried to ask some questions, but was asked to call the main telephone line to enquire about the customer service telephone number after my second question was asked. The bank is dealing with tens of thousands of customers at the counter every day; therefore the customer relationship management foundation should start from that point. That being said, to make the customer feel at home is a goal that is easier to talk about than actually execute.
Next, let's review the status of the customer service center in a bank. To be honest, generally the telephone service is much better than counter service. Many commercial banks have installed national, uniform and advanced devices. Training has already allowed some banks to let the customer enjoy a sense of "service with a smile" through the phone. If this can be further developed to go beyond passive questions and answers to agent initiated service, this would help banks obtain even higher customer satisfaction ratings.
Thirdly, how should a bank orientate the value-added services? This question stems from the 24 hour self-services ATM machines that we can find in every street. Most banks have set up their own ATM networks . However, most people are concerned about whether they can withdraw or deposit the money they earned laboriously promptly at any place or any time. The success of CRM starts when the bank can meet the basic needs of its customers through more conveniently located ATMs and extended counter banking hours (e.g. after the normal work day or on public holidays).
The value-added service becomes valuable when every service level and point in the bank is adjusted to meet the customer's needs. If we were to identify an area from which the bank can start, that would be in the area of personal finance management. For most banks, the main customer base comes from the general depositors, hence if you could tell each depositor how to calculate interest clearly and how to save money with the best benefits, you would be considered as on the road to CRM success .
Fourthly, the orientation of additional services provided by the bank. We are very familiar with bill payments services in the bank and the bank also regards this service category to be the climax in the customer relationship management cycle. However, in actual fact, this should be a starting point for the bank to mine for / collect personal information, it can use this to establish a formidable database. Many of the commercial banks abroad have relied on this information to build a value-added CRM platform and earned abundant returns.
In a sense, the areas a bank should pay attention to are close to any customer's heart. They are the same issues we grumble about as we line up for counter services or hold the line to speak to a telephone representative.
Change Management
Mr. Carlos Zhou, Consultant, IBM Business Consulting Services
Change management is probably the most important issue for CRM in China. Change Management should cover CRM concept training via a benefit showcases. All customer touch points and back-office operations that support marketing, sales and customer services should be studied and made more customer-focused. CRM should never be downgraded to just another IT project.
I personally do not think that the complicated economic environment is an issue but rather an opportunity to spearhead CRM implementation. However, the lack of business objectives before adopting CRM will be a roadblock to the success of any CRM program.
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