Customer Experience

Customer Experience

Customer Experience

Introduction

When customer experience becomes important in an industry, the management team roles tend to be inclined towards establishment of practices that build the best results and performance track. The banking sector is in a heavily service intensive industry that relies on the consumer behavior, much of which dictates the outcomes of customer experience. It gets more important for a banking institution to equip itself with the information and recourses that enable rapid response and reaction against unfavorable customer experience in such an industry. Opening a new banking outlet, particularly in an overseas location, it is imperative for the banking institution adequately prepares for the groundbreaking exercise and positioning that will facilitate sustainability.

Some of the intricate issues that determine the success of a newly opened branch in the banking sector are generally related to the first impression created regarding customer experience. Customer experience can be memorable for either good or bad reasons. How suitable and pleasant an experience gets to the newcomers is usually dependent on the trend set from the beginning. It follows that the remainder of the experience in a new market is defined in the initial stages of market positioning and establishment. Aware of these facts, Cooperative Bank and Smile UK Limited will require the detail of the following study regarding the new market in Tanzania for the creation of an appropriate customer.

According to Avaya (2008, P1), both local and international banking institutions find a huge challenge to balance their strategy mix and technological capacity to facilitate sustainable customer relationships. According to the revelations of the group, today’s customer experience has changed a lot due to a number of factors. One of the most important factors that have necessitated a different approach to handling of customer experience is the easy availability of information that has impacted on customer expectations. In view of the new market in Tanzania, this study reveals some of the most important information that the management of Cooperative Bank and Smile will need to handle the changed customer experience issues in Tanzania.

UK Customer Experience

Comparing the banking sector in the UK to that in Tanzania, there are fundamental differences in the economic settings of the two countries. While the UK is an industrialized economy, Tanzania is a developing country, where profound differences in operations will be experienced. Performance in the developed economy presents quite enough experience of operating inside a competitive market, since investment is balanced into almost every sector. Competition is an experienced area therefore that the Cooperative Bank and Smile will depend on while making entry into the Tanzanian market. One of the major strategies that characterize operations of banks in such a crowded market is the creation of a sustainable customer relations program. It is therefore expected that the Cooperative Bank and Smile entry will have an upper hand in economic orientation in Tanzania due to the exposure already held. The fact that the Tanzanian economy is significantly compatible with the Commonwealth economic foundation makes the bank ideal for entry into a new system.

Prospects of Customer Experience in Tanzania

Entry into the Tanzanian banking market will perhaps require a mention of the factors likely to affect the customer experience in the East African region to a great extent on the African continent. One positive indicator of unlimited opportunities that the new market has in Tanzania is the relatively low penetration of banking sector into the population (ReConnect Africa, 2010, p1). Population figures indicated in Appendix 1 can be used to predict performance of the banking sector under these factors (CIA, 2011, p1). Economic prospects of the country and the region are pointers that a good entry and customer experience strategy will face little resistance from economic environment. The cultural background in Tanzania is founded on a friendly and supportive environment arising from the faded Ujamaa socialism that would facilitate growth and thriving for customer experience in the banking sector (TANU, 1974, p120).

Today’s Market Landscape

According to Microsoft (n.d, p4), today’s banks are responsive of the customer needs than it used to be long ago. This is mainly due to changes in the socioeconomic space that human beings continue to experience. Customer experience in today’s banking market is therefore a representation of a scenario undergoing several transformations. Customer emotions are stimulated to trigger the desired outcomes, since earlier advertising expenditure seem ineffective. Information age is here with us and the transformations experienced through technology and innovation is likely to introduce even more changes into the future of the market (Ivens & Shaw, 2002, p5). According to Barnes (p17), getting customers to satisfaction is a matter of how well customer experience matches their needs. Generally, conduction of surveys will be a tool enough to indicate the amount of satisfaction that customers get from services of a certain trade. The banking industry will therefore continue to experience changes in the manner in which customers are handled.

Appropriate Customer Experience Practices

Different industries devise ways of ensuring that their customers act with loyalty and remain as part of the important and vocal stakeholders. Ensuring that the customer feels appreciated and important in the business defines the amount of transactions made, hence revenue. The customer experience practice embarked by individual businesses must therefore be or appear to be responsive of the needs of the customers. Almost every business has a different set of unique issues define their existence, but certain customer issues cut across all industry models. Dealing with the banking sector, several issues can be identified for the creation of the best customer experience that can translate into positive economic results. Knowledge of dealing with the customer is not only a management tool but an important cultural asset for the entire organization’s practice.

Firstly, organizational commitment in the banking sector is important in establishment of the appropriate customer experience. Decision making and implementation of decided work plan at every level of the organization is determined by how responsive the workforce is. In order for the Cooperative Bank and Smile to achieve important progress in the initial entrance stages in Tanzania, employee commitment will be invaluable. Customers may not offer the best experience due to the various personality differences, but organizational commitment is usually designed to overcome any of such challenges. According to Shea (2008, p1), it is always important to equip the employees with the relevant information on how to deal with customers through research to unravel what customers like. The author calls such concept the Voice of the Customer (VOC), since the revelations thereon can be used in such an accuracy that the actual customer’s voice would be. Decisions and policies to handle customers will be formulated with regard to the findings of such a study conducted to identify with the needs of a customer. It would be important for an overseas institution such as Cooperative Bank and Smile based in London to carry out such a study to equip the employees with the information they need for the same. Commitment arises when the management appreciates certain issues and incorporates them into the organizational policy framework.

Shea (1), reckons that to operate with the VOC concept, a well outlined structure and arrangement to direct the appropriate research findings into the policy framework. Research must be conducted in such a manner that useful information is obtained and possible technicalities accordingly translated into the proper scope and meaning. Clear and definite policy is then drawn out of the research findings and commitment sought from the employee quarters while enforcement resources are expected from the management.

Secondly, business initiatives must be formulated in tandem with the presenting customer precedence and opportunities. In order for the Cooperative Bank and Smile to successfully facilitate a balanced investment entry into the Tanzanian market, targets will have to be set in advance, in line with the main investment objectives that the parent institution envisions. Customer experience programs taken into consideration will then be formulated and compared against the provisions of the longer investment plans of the bank. The importance of this exercise is to ensure that the long term objectives of the bank are not eroded by overambitious suggestion to handle customers. Performance metrics and figures direct the amount of consideration that the management ought to give to the new branch with regard to customer experience. However, initial stages of market entry may not necessarily be guided by the performance in Tanzania, since it is the first instance of establishment. Priorities must be set out in ensuring that the most strategic issues of establishment take precedence in order for a smooth establishment to take place.

Thirdly, brand positioning must target customer loyalty into the future of the banks existence in the new environment (Ahmad & Clifton, 2009, p22). Customer experience is determined by the first impression that the new entrant makes, depending on the features of the rest of the competitors. Within a competitive market, customers will be attracted to the players who handle their interests with the best welcoming gestures. In the event that the new entrant offers better or acceptable brand image, the customers are likely to embrace the services of the entrant. Contrary to this, the customer experience is severely damaged since the standards set by the market are higher than what the entrant can offer. Brand positioning will therefore be a factor of the perception that customers make of the entrant (96). This implies that the first impression created by Cooperative Bank and Smile will be expected to comply to the set market standards in Tanzania in order for a positive and favorable customer experience to be facilitated. Depending on the initial research performed on the market conditions, the management is equipped with the relevant information regarding the nature of brand positioning likely to attract enough customers to kick-start operations. Constant reviews of programs improving brand positioning are necessary to ensure that changes in market expectations do not leave the entrant in a less advantageous condition.

Copley (2004, p83) describes positioning as offering goods and services with a perspective that considers the customer as well as the rest of the market competition. The author mentions of managing issues as they arise in the market in order to have an advantage over the determining factors represented by competitors and customers. It is therefore imperative that customer experience is based on a perspective that is accorded the seriousness it deserves, such as competition would. The author further mentions of strategic positioning, which entails clear policy and strategy taken from an informed perspective that takes care of the brand name. Regarding the banking sector, it is obvious that the correct positioning will take customers’ needs and competition into serious consideration.

Fourthly, customer experience will be a representation of how well the institution handles human beings, procedures, available products as well as delivery of services (Shea, 2008, p1). For the bank to facilitate a winning position for its customer experience, these four factors must be in consideration. People determine the success of any industry, both internally and externally. Human resource management directly impacts on customer experience as public relations and customer care services do. All the stakeholders must be satisfied with the operations of the bank in order for the customers to feel the same (Gitman & McDaniel, 2007, p520). Processes within the bank will also need to be clearly outlined and adherence measures taken into serious consideration before customers can accept to be served by the bank. Customers feel protected when procedures are laid out and their compliance guaranteed. The banking institution must also deliver financial products that represent the needs of the market in several ways. Delivery of the services must be done in such a manner that the customers feel that hey can associate and identify with such an institution.

Fifthly, competitive advantage in customer experience is enhanced by industry experiences when the environment becomes competitive (Schmitt, 2003, p11). It is estimated that some level of competition will be met in the Tanzanian market where customer experience will be directly proportional to level of competitiveness of the Cooperative Bank and Smile. Banking market experiences enjoyed by the bank in the UK will be importance in facilitating the identification of the competitive advantage the bank will enjoy in Tanzania. Customer experience elsewhere will be translated in some aspects and instances to make general customer consumption behavior in the two markets. Setting of goals prior to the actual entrance will determine the overall experience that the bank will have in Tanzania. Like observed earlier on, customer experience is usually performed from the informed perspective offered by the goals set prior to operations by the management.

Sixthly, customer experience heavily depends on the communication practices established from the beginning of operations. Cultural practices within an organization include communication practices where the banking industry is sensitive to the actual manner of communication established. Customer communication strategies are definitive of the customer experience that a bank has. For Cooperative Bank and Smile to achieve the appropriate customer experience as one of the strengths of its operations, it will be imperative that the initial customer contact is handled with the sensitivity it deserves. Customer expectations and actual feelings of the service must be matched as much as possible in order for a favorable experience to be achieved. This implies that the bank will be obliged to embark on frequent customer expectations surveys to establish exactly what the customers expect in the service delivered and their delivery format. It is from such informed grounds that the bank will formulate products and serves delivery plans to keep up with the demands of the customers. One of the responses expected from such an exercise is the formulation of a monitoring system that discerns the level of compliance with the laid out procedures and communication regulation requirements. Communication at all levels is supposed to facilitate delivery services such that customer standards are complied with (Fitch, 2007, p9).

Theoretical Approaches

There are several theoretical explanations why customer experience has to be approached in a certain manner and not anyhow. Several scholars have dedicated their research resources and time to unravel consumer consumption behavior, in order to offer the appropriate guidance to customer policy makers. Almost all cases of studies have demonstrated the need for any business entity to handle customers in a sensitive manner, since consumer behavior is guided by economic postulates of satisfaction of human needs and wants. Having understood the need to incorporate human needs models in unraveling consumer behavior for any product, decision and policy makers in a business organization are equipped with important resource. The following section details on some theoretical foundations on which customer experience seems to borrow from.

Hierarchy of Needs

According to Maslow, a certain hierarchy of needs dictates the manner in which human beings prioritize needs based on the limited nature of resources available to them (Shaw, 2007, p52). The author reckons that customers must not feel as if they are subjects of neglect when they need to achieve them. In a reducing order, biological, safety, identity, esteem and self actualization needs are sought. Customer experience is affected by the status of the immediate pressing need, with the most important factors being biological needs. Banking customer experience will rely on this order of needs priority (Chapman, 2004, p1).

Laddering Theory

Where information regarding consumer preferences is required to be extracted from a consumer, several techniques can be used to administer the extraction. One of such techniques employs the consultative but detailed interviewing of a customer to develop the needs profile. Such an interview is described as laddering, whereupon important information needed to unravel consumer preferences and behavior may be achieved. There are three elements of the technique as featured in the results. One of the elements is attributes, regarding the features of the product that the consumer perceives from the product. The other elements are consequences as well as values that a consumer makes of a choice to use a certain commodity over the other. Laddering Theory, also known as Means-End Theory implies that interrogation can be used to provoke a customer’s perceptions of a commodity or service to confirm that the three features determine consumption theory. A-C-V profiling implies that customers get motivated to consume goods on a certain order of influential features. The order of the features determine the level of compliance to a certain consumption behavior, hence the need for marketers to observe laddering before they push products down the throats of unwilling consumers (Olson & Reynolds, 2001, p25).

Customer Service Continuum Theory

Learning of the needs of the customer dictates how the product mix and service delivery should be presented to the customer. This is because responding to the customer demands will not only influence the industry’s products to be offered but also dictates the manner in which the package is to be delivered. Advertising therefore becomes part of the equation while how to deliver the commodity becomes another important aspect of factors affecting consumer behavior. Some of the traditional trading practices have experienced fundamental changes which have affected the way of handling customers. On one hand, the customer has gained cynicism and can critique advertisements. As a result, something else must come in as a force to convince their choice of commodity for consumption. On the other hand, a more information oriented society increasingly demand explanations necessitating customer service departments. In addition, consumers are aware of their right to quality goods and service and they place demands for higher quality. Competition tends to thrive since customers will always look for better commodities and services prompted by quest for quality. Alternatively, a more individualistic population of consumers demand a more personalized attention and attendance of customers. Finally, customers demand for proof changes customer experience with a more alert market. The above factors implies that customer experience tends to attract reforms in the manner in which the customer is attended, hence an apparent customer service range develops (Murley, 1997, p234).

Conclusion

Slight market differences are expected to exist between the Tanzanian banking market and the UK market, with regard to customer experience. However, fundamental differences in economic settings in the two countries are likely to have a direct bearing on customer experience, considering that the industrialization status of the two is distantly apart.

There are several customer experience practices that managers are supposed to familiarize with, in order to develop the best image of the market. While most of the practices cut across various investment models, there are industry specific practices that market research carried out ought before entry ought to reveal.

Using the above mentioned theoretical approaches, it can be demonstrated that the consumers follow a certain marked behavior. It therefore follow that entry into a new banking market must consider the general rules of customer uptake of services offered and the best approach to handle them.

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Appendix 1: Tanzania’s Population Estimates as at 2010

Total population 41,892, 895

Population growth rate 2.032%

Birth rate 33.44 births/ 1000

Death rate 12.31 deaths/1000

Age structure: 0-14 years

0-14years 43%

15-64 years 54.1%

65 years and above 2.9%

Adopted from: CIA Factbook (2011) [online] available from: HYPERLINK “https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tz.html” https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tz.html (accessed 10 March 2011)