Challenging every part of the business and obsess about customers and staff to improve customer satisfaction are the secrets to success from the top ranked business for customer satisfaction.
Speaking at Utility Week’s Water Customer Conference, First Direct’s customer director Alison Jaap said water and banking are comparable as highly regulated industries that are essential to customers’ daily lives.
“We are not so different and there are things we have done that any company can do,” Jaap said.
“Our customers don’t want to talk to use any more than water companies’ customers want to want to talk to them. But when those calls become a priority and they have to talk to us it’s very important to get it right at the first contact.”
Jaap said the secrets for success for First Direct were thanks to its challenger culture; its customer “obsession” and looking after staff.
“People really do matter more,” Jaap said, and added First Direct was obsessed with both its customers and staff.
She said the first “secret” was the challenger culture that exists in every part of the company. She said being born with the ethos of a challenge meant constantly questioning how and why things should be done.
“Innovation is very, very important to ongoing customer satisfaction. Doing what was done yesterday won’t result in the same outcomes today.”
She added companies should always examine ways to do more tomorrow than yesterday.
“Customer obsession is at all levels and runs through the DNA but it’s not about talking about it, it has to be about doing it.”
She explained the company examined its own processes for improvements for customers and made fundamental changes at all part of the business. “We did not just tinker, we made changes and continue to improve.”
Thirdly, Jaap said the company placed a heavy focus on its staff to ensure people were happy and customers received better levels of service.
In practice that meant the company restructured its roles and careers to offer greater career progression to retain staff and create a more fun working environment.
The company, which was formed in 1989 as a challenger telephone-based bank, has consistently been ranked highly by customers and industry for its customer service.