News: Performance Management
Banks could benefit from customer care training, suggests study
12 November 2008
Customer care training - and possibly sales training - would benefit many of Britain's banks, particularly as they seek to regain consumer confidence, it has been suggested.
An extensive "mystery shopping" exercise carried out by performance management specialists this month revealed a lot of staff are passing over opportunities to open new current accounts.
The Grass Roots investigation also underlined that levels of trust experienced by customers are directly related to the quality of service provided.
Nigel Cover, board director at the performance measurement outlet, explains that 400 visits were made to branches of major high street banks and building societies across the UK.
One in four sales opportunities were missed and staff failed to ask enough questions to "establish the customer's requirements", he reveals.
"At a time when the financial sector is under close scrutiny, we have identified that maintaining service standards is a critical part of customer loyalty," he remarks.
Financial institutions which invest in the knowledge and skills of their frontline staff have the biggest opportunity to regain customer confidence and retain their business, Mr Cover concludes.
The National Customer Satisfaction Index released by the US-based CFI Group last week further highlighted a need for customer service training among a number of the UK's credit card companies, including Barclays.
