Customer Complaint Management Lacking at Banks
In many cases banks are managing their customer complaints in a sub-optimal manner, or even not taking them as seriously as they should, according to a new report from Carlisle & Gallagher.
In September 2013, the firm polled more than 1,000 U.S. consumers and conducted interviews with 20 financial services executives at the top 10 U.S. financial institution to uncover the important drivers for financial institutions to be successful in managing customer complaints. Among the key findings, the survey found that about one-third of consumers experienced a problem at their bank that was not completely resolved. Further, among problems that were resolved, 72 percent required two or more interactions to do so.
"We found that having to go through multiple interactions to resolve a problem is a real tipping point for customers," says Patricia Sahm, Ph.D., CG’s Customer Experience and Channels Practice Lead. "When you can solve a problem for a customer in a single interaction, they have a higher level of confidence and feel valued."
The study also found that core banking products tend to frustrate customers the most. 38 percent of complaints to banks are about personal checking, 14 percent related to credit cards, 12 percent about mortgages and 12 percent about debit cards.
Sahm says these products are "gateway products" to a deeper financial relationship, and if a customer has a bad experience with a basic checking account, for example, if will lessen the chance they will purchase more complicated financial products from the bank.
The survey also found that there is a direct correlation between bad experiences and the future banking relationship. First call resolution can often lead to more business. 22 percent of consumers said they would do more business with the bank when their issue is resolved with one interaction, the report found. However, two or more interactions, or not addressing customer concerns can lead to high levels of dissatisfaction, with 24 percent of consumers reporting that they would do less business or end the relationship if their issue was not resolved.
Sahm also notes that banks don't often take advantage of customer complaints and "really listen to what the customer has to say. This can be very valuable feedback to have."
Customer complaints "can show you a lot about your messaging and how it's perceived." she says. "The customer should be a big driver of innovation in your firm, banks would probably do well to be listening to them."
Sahm acknowledges that banks can't compete right now with customer experience leaders like Amazon or Zappos, in large part because they have a difficult time getting a single view of the customer across silos. Still, banks can take steps to improve their customer complaint management. Sahm recommends initially focusing on achieving "one-touch resolution" when it comes to complaints, as well as really listening to complaints and taking them seriously.
"You should value your complaints over your compliments," she says.
Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio