The comparison was performed in the retail branches between the hours of 12 pm and 2 pm on a weekday (See note 1 below). This was done to examine the banking experience free of additional customer volume interruption and possible teller fatigue following a long shift. The 5 major Canadian retail banks were compared: TD Canada Trust, RBC Royal Bank, Scotiabank, CIBC and BMO. To eliminate possible differences resulting from customer service at different areas, all the branches visited were in close proximity to one another. Finally, the teller at each of the 5 banks was approached with the same request and follow-up questions: “Hi, I am interested in signing up for a credit card. Could you please tell me about your credit card offerings.”
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TD Canada Trust
Information: 3/5
Friendliness: 4/5
Wait time: 1/5
Customer Needs: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
RBC Royal Bank
Information: 4/5
Friendliness: 3/5
Wait time: 3/5
Customer Needs: 2/5
Overall: 3/5
Scotiabank
Information: 4/5
Friendliness: 5/5
Wait time: 4/5
Customer Needs: 1/5
Overall: 4/5
CIBC
Information: 5/5
Friendliness: 5/5
Wait time: 4/5
Customer Needs: 3/5
Overall: 2/5
BMO
Information: 4/5
Friendliness: 4/5
Wait time: 3/5
Customer Needs:2/5
Overall: 3/5
Recommendations
Overall, a few patters and improvement opportunities emerged as a result of this experience. First, it seems that the branch retailer locations are not properly incentivized and/or interested in selling credit card products to prospective customers. To boost credit card sales, tellers could benefit from a streamlined process for assessing and segmenting customer needs. This could be achieved by utilizinga simple tool (e.g. a flow chart, decision matrix, online questionnaire) that identifies customer needs and preferences through a set of yes/no question. Once customer preferences and needs are identified, the teller would then align their recommendations with the most suitable credit card product.
Second, tellers need to be trained to be more knowledgeable and show enthusiasm by actively offering cards and working with the customer to find the best suitable option. This could include being more upfront with advice and being more familiar with the credit card brochures. Narrowing the choices down with the help from the teller would lead to higher sale penetration and better overall client experience.
While it is important to recognize that more and more customers are applying for cards online, the traditional retail channels need to ensure that they can continue servicing customers at the branches. This includes presence of knowledgeable employees and relevant information such as well-designed hardcopies of brochures.
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Note 1: The output of the study is illustrative of one customer experience and may not give a true representation of the customer experience in aggregate. The study is not meant to favour one financial institution over another.