Delivering excellence through customer care

As the globe celebrates customer service week which is a period set aside to reinforce the significance of providing a quality experience for the consumer, Alexander Chiejina writes on how First City Monument Bank (FCMB) hinges on customer care to drive its business to new heights

Good customer service no doubt has over the years been the lifeblood of any business. As it is the case with most organisations in Nigeria and the world at large, they may offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as they want but unless one can get some of those customers to come back, such a business won’t be profitable for long.

However for Ebele Enuani, a staff with CAP plc, good customer service is all about bringing customers back. And about sending them away happy – happy enough to pass positive feedback about one’s business along to others, who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves and in turn become repeat customers.

“If you are a good salesperson, you can sell anything to anyone once. But it will be your approach to customer service that determines whether or not you will ever be able to sell that person anything else. The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers – a relationship that that individual customer feels that he would like to pursue. How do you go about forming such a relationship? By remembering the one true secret of good customer service and acting accordingly- “You will be judged by what you do, not what you say,” Enuani disclosed.

Hence, as service-oriented organizations across the globe mark this year’s Customer Service Week, a period set aside in the month of October when customers are celebrated and appreciated by organizations, First City Monument Bank Plc (FCMB) has announced it is using the customer week which begins from Monday October 25th to 29th to appreciate the patronage and relationship it has shared with its esteemed customers over the years.

Making this known to newsmen in Lagos, Ladi Balogun, FCMB Group Managing Director revealed that the week is meant to celebrate and appreciate the esteemed customers including entrepreneurs for their loyalty and focus on their feedback which has gone a long way in improving its level of service and customer intimacy.
With the theme for this year Customer Service Week - ‘Customer First’, Balogun stated that “its focus in hinged on three main points: “re-emphasizing our Customer First strategy, re-affirming our commitment to building a long lasting relationship which supports their businesses and provide true memorable customer experiences”

According to the Group Managing Director, “During the week, the bank would be appreciating its customers nationwide, organizing Customer Forum to connect via providing clients with business ideas and opportunities and more importantly, obtain feedback on how they can be better served. It will also be an opportunity to renew its commitment to continually deliver on its Customer First strategy which forms the basis of the partnership. The bank had in 2008 launched the second phase of its advertising campaign, My Bank and I to refresh its promise to customers and other key stakeholders.”

Balogun disclosed that “the campaign titled “Commitment” was an extension of the success of the “My Bank and I” phase one which was launched the previous year.
“FCMB the previous year unveiled the first phase of the corporate campaign, which set a new standard in bank-customer relationship. It was designed to build a stronger relationship with the bank’s customers, cutting away the differentiator and making it a kind of partnership relationship where customers have as much stake as the bank in the daily business operations. The objective of the new campaign underscores the secret of the bank’s successes over the years and its unique selling proposition going forward.

In My Bank & I Phase 2, what we are saying to our customers and the larger stakeholders is that our service offerings have gone beyond the basic relationship and partnership. We are now talking about commitment, which is the bedrock of any good partnership. We do this by anticipating our customers’ needs in order to provide solutions to those needs,” Balogun concluded.

No doubt, Customer Service Week , which is been celebrated across countries like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, etc, it provides a unique opportunity for service and support professionals to join in a celebration of the important role that customer service plays in every organization.

It is noteworthy to state that core goals of the week celebration include boosting morale, motivation and teamwork, reward frontline reps for the important work they do all year long, raise companywide awareness of the importance of customer service, let clients know about the organization’s commitment to customer satisfaction.

There is no gain saying that customers have more options than ever before-and feel less loyalty. They want products and services fast, cheap, quick from whoever will provide them. That means that the competitive advantage is now in the firm’s ability to keep customers and build repeat business. This business firms in Nigeria should emulate as in this way, one continually delivers on Customer First strategy which forms the basis of partnership.