The importance of customer service

The importance of customer service

Providing a high level of customer service is an essential requirement for any business – customers are at the heart of every business.

Banks have let themselves and customers down over the last few years by putting profit and ego before customer needs. They have forgotten the importance of the customer, which is fundamental to their success.

This is now slowly changing as banks refocus on customer needs but the damage has been done and it will take time and commitment to rebuild their reputation.

What is different about independent finance houses?

The culture within many independent finance houses is very different to this. The customer needs are the focal point of the business – without customers there is no business.  Customers are not ‘taken for granted’, they are valued and respected.

Customer service has evolved around independent finance houses differentiating themselves from the high street banks and other major players in the finance market.

The approach is a ‘can do’ one with time invested by staff at all levels to deliver the best outcome for the customer. Time is spent finding out what the customer needs and then finding a solution to satisfy this need, rather than adopting a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

The service is based on ‘knowing and understanding’ your customer. Relationship Managers are key to this – they are proactive in visiting their customers in order to establish, maintain and retain a relationship.  The decision making process on funding requests etc is sped up as a result of this, resulting in a high levels of customer satisfaction.

The relationship between an independent finance house and its customer is a partnership. Communication levels are high both internally and externally with the customer.

Banks have gone down the ‘faceless’ relationship route – efficiencies overriding what the customer wants or needs.

Independent finance houses are more agile and generally employ people who are multi tasked rather than ‘departmentalised’ due to their nature of being smaller in size. They are focused on delivering high levels of service.

This in turn results in a more unified, team approach with common goals, as mentioned above, focusing on the best outcome for the customer. People will go the extra mile.

What are the benefits of this?

People working within smaller, independent finance houses are generally more motivated due to their common purpose.

They have a sense of pride in what they do and enjoy a higher level of job satisfaction. They celebrate success together.

In turn, staff attrition is low enabling succession planning and promotion from within. This helps embed the culture within the business.

Customers feel confident in having a business partner who is reliable and supportive. Customer retention is high due to customer loyalty. Recommendations from customers generate further referrals, leading to increased business volumes.

It clearly benefits both the customer and the finance house.

The challenge

The challenge for any business as they grow is to retain the USP that made them successful in the first place. As independent finance houses grow organically or via acquisition, they naturally look for efficiencies in order to make the business scalable.

This will not always result in the customer remaining the focal point and can be detrimental.

It is important to keep the customer at the heart of the business at all times and this can be a challenge when other pressures arise.