Optimizing Operational Performance While Building Brand Loyalty & Credibility

Customer service is at the core of our business, and as a Group, we believe that achieving excellence in this area requires careful evaluation, planning and execution. Over the past few years, CRDB Bank Group has continually invested in initiatives designed to deliver a superior experience in accessing and using our services. We understand that good customer service not only has a direct impact on our top and bottom lines but also builds our brand, reputation, and credibility.

The challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 served to accelerate our service transformation agenda through innovation and sustained investments. Our priority was to ensure the accessibility and reliability of service, especially during the pandemic. To achieve this, we rolled out various initiatives designed to enable our customers to obtain a superior experience, especially during the crisis period.

To best keep track of customer sentiments, we implemented a first-in-the-market Digital Customer Feedback Survey tool using a quick reader code (QR Code). The feedback tool has proven to be simple, specific and engaging with real-time feedback, which has increased our efficiency in acting on customer issues. Since its inception, Group customer engagements have grown remarkably, registering at least 13% month-on-month growth. As a result, more than 1,245+ customers have interacted with the Group, favourably rating their experience and pushing the Net Promoter Scores (NPS) from 39% to 48%.

Insights from the tool continue to support the Group’s efforts to map customer journeys, identify gaps in the processes, measure & build customer loyalty to the brand. It is worth noting that the tool has transformed the Bank’s ability to drive regular engagements thereby creating enhanced experiences.

To address specific customer pain points, we embarked on an internal Service Initiative to address bottlenecks to the customer journey and create a great customer experience on our products and services. The initiative dubbed “SSA” (Simplify, Stop and Automate) Initiative focuses on eliminating customer pain points through reviewing and improving processes by using the approach of Simplifying (making the process easier for our customers), Stopping (eliminating an unnecessary process) or Automating (digitalizing). By the end of 2020, more than a dozen changes were implemented, enabling the Group to eliminate 39% of recurrent customer issues.

To ensure a holistic transformation of the Group’s service proposition, we revamped the Call Centre System and integrated new applications with software and system upgrades. The changes translated into improvements in service delivery including, better system stability, high efficiency and enhanced team productivity.

The system transformation, alongside specialized training, has empowered our call centre agents to leverage interactions with customers to deliver effective and personalized engagements. We currently have a first-call-resolution-ability to handle customer queries which will drive customer satisfaction.