How hard do your customers work, for you?
I think, there is a distinct merit in banks considering customers not merely as clients but as partners with whom to embark upon a joint exercise in wealth creation. Service strategies and innovations shaped by their ideas, suggestions….feedback…can form a dynamic core around which the business can be continuously evolved, profitably.
Perhaps an optimal mode of incorporating customer feedback is through a 'Customer Advisory Council'. You can invite customers to participate in this forum. Volunteering customers can also be welcomed. Your bank can put forth its plans – for future products and services before this Council. The Council in turn, can validate it, offer suggestions and active feedback. Fresh concepts, inspired by ideas on customers’ wish lists, can also be brought to life. Needless to say, this will have a hugely positive rub-off on the customer relationship itself. Even better, these customers can turn brand ambassadors for your bank…advocating these products and services they have helped create, through blogs and other networking channels.
Now, it doesn’t take much to see that this can be a great opportunity for your business to build credibility in a difficult environment and add value in a world of lost trust.
After all, if it is the customer who holds the key to the bank’s success, it seems logical to request him to turn it in the right direction as well.
