NEW TRENDS IN CUSTOMER SERVICE

VISHAKA VAMANJUR TYBBI - 55

Marketing - Customer service introduction

Broadly speaking, customer service can be defined as: The way a business looks after its customers Customer service has to be a team effort and not just the responsibility of employees who deal with the public directly. Providing good customer service is a vital part of managing a business. Most customers have the option to go elsewhere if the quality of customer service is lacking. On the other hand, good customer service is a source of competitive advantage. Good customer service leads to customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers are more loyal and profitable. Dissatisfied customers take their money elsewhere and tell their friends about the poor service they have received. What is customer satisfaction? The following ideas are usually considered to be fundamental in achieving customer satisfaction:

The product or service must meet customer needs & wants i.e. it must be of good quality Sales and promotional activities need to create a positive experience for the customer. For example, the attitudes of employees who make contact with customers should be positive and professional After-sales service should also be positive and appropriate (e.g. user training, help lines, servicing). Customers often need reassurance after they have bought something that they have made the right choice, or help in using a product properly.

Benefits of good customer service:The potential benefits to the firm from providing a consistently high level of customer service include:

Increased sales more likely to try out other products/services too Customer loyalty more likely to be a source of repeat business and to recommend the business to friends and family Enhanced public image helps build a brand and provides protection if there is a slip-up in customer service More effective workforce satisfied customers help create a positive working environment

It should be evident from the points made above that the benefits of good customer service are interrelated, i.e.

Satisfied customers will lead to more sales from their own repeat business and from the new customers generated by their recommendations A positive public image will generate more sales by attracting new customers Staff who deliver good customer service receive their customers appreciation and are further motivated to offer good customer service and so on.

CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a model for managing a companys interactions with current and future customers. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support. Marketing. CRM systems for marketing track and measure campaigns over multiple channels, such as email, search, social media, telephone and direct mail. These systems track clicks, responses, leads and deals. Customer service and support CRMs can be used to create, assign and manage requests made by customers, such as call center software which help direct customers to agents. CRM software can also be used to identify and reward loyal customers over a period of time BASIC STEPS FOR CRM Attracting present and new customers. Acquiring new customers. Serving the customers. Retaining the customers OBJECTIVES OF CRM IN BANKS CRM, the technology, along with human resources of the banks, enables the banks to analyze the behavior of customers and their value. The main areas of focus are as the name suggests: customer, relationship, and the management of relationship and the main objectives to implement CRM in the business strategy are: To simplify marketing and sales process To make call centers more efficient To provide better customer service To discover new customers and increase customer revenue To cross sell products more effectively CRM A POWERFUL TOOL Increase sales potential it increases sales potential and value of the customer to the bank . Adds to customer loyalty Integrates various components of a business sales, markets, IT and accounting . Core objective: - Use of technology - Use of human resources the core objective of modern CRM methodology is to help business to use the technology and human resource to gain better view of customer behavior .

Online banking : Definition of 'Online Banking' The performance of banking activities via the Internet. A good online bank will offer customers just about every service traditionally available through a local branch, including accepting deposits, paying interest on savings and providing an online bill payment system. Since the early 1980s innovations in online banking has made it easier for customers to manage their money. Online banking was first offered in NY in 1981 after which Stanford Credit Union created the first online banking website in 1994. However, online banking took off in India only in 2000 after the IT Act was passed. This paved the way for tremendous growth in the e-Banking sector in India. Online banking has evolved over the last decade from a source of product information to a one-stop-shop providing a complete set of banking services. As a new generation of banking clients demand more services to be delivered through the online channel, the online banking model has evolved from being purely tactical to a strategic model. Today, Axis Bank, Allahbad Bank and Corporation Bank are said to have the best e-Banking facilities in the business. Since the Internet does hold revolutionary potential for the delivery of banking products and services, many banks are Internet only banks. Unlike their predecessors, these Internet - only banks do not maintain brick and mortar bank branches. Instead, they typically differentiate themselves by offering better interest rates and more extensive online banking features. e-Banking today offers services such as: Bill payment service You can facilitate payment of electricity and telephone bills, mobile phone, credit card and insurance premium bills as each bank has tie-ups with various companies Fund transfer You can transfer any amount from one account to another of the same or any another bank. Customers can send money anywhere in India Credit card customers With Internet banking, customers can not only pay their credit card bills online but also get a loan on their cards Railway pass This is something that would interest all the aam janta. Indian Railways has tied up with ICICI bank and you can now make your railway pass for local trains online Investing through Internet banking You can now open an FD online through funds transfer. Now investors with interlinked demat account and bank account can easily trade in the stock market Shopping With a range of all kind of products, you can shop online and the payment is also made conveniently through your account. Today, it is the internet that is playing a role in changing the banking scene. While credit cards may still seem like a new invention to seniors, they are actually becoming outdated to our youngest generation. Our youngest generation of e-money ventures include: Google wallet: Google Wallet is a mobile payment system developed by Google that allows its users to store debit cards, credit cards, loyalty cards, and gift cards among other things, as well as redeeming sales promotions on their mobile phone. Paypal PayPal is a force to be reckoned with in the internet world, as they have a virtual monopoly on internet e-commerce and money transfer.

Internet currency bit coin Bit coin is a virtual currency that can be substituted for many services and products online. Bit coin is not controlled by a government or central bank, but rather increases at a constant rate as prescribed by a computer algorithm. Voice payment Transfer funds just by telling your phone who you wanted to send money to, and how much. It is all secured through voice authentication Self-pay The next step in this evolution is self-payment where the need for tills vanishes, liberating consumers and allowing them to pay for goods themselves simply by scanning a bar code. Advantages of e-Banking Use of online services impacts retention, cross selling and overall customer value. As acquisition is more expensive than retention, banks go all out to secure their customers loyalty Help reduce cost in the physical channel. The Internet has an absolute cost advantage. Providing financial products and services. A successful bank web site will foster the creation of communities of interest that can serve to truly differentiate a bank from its competitors. Successful web sites create value for present and potential customers.

The future of e-Banking The online transaction volumes within the online channel are estimated to have grown at the highest rate through 2008-11, and are expected to continue growing at a healthy pace going forward. Focus area for banks is to upgrade their existing online platform by supplementing them with advanced functionalities and features. In mature markets, the key focus area for banks is to upgrade their existing online platform by supplementing them with advanced functionalities and features. In emerging markets, the focus is on investing in online banking technologies to meet customer demand. We entering an era of social banking. In Social Banking, the focus is on satisfying existing needs in the real economy and the society whilst simultaneously taking into account their social, cultural, ecological and economic sustainability. Furthering the common good by generating multiple returns with respect to these aspects is at its core. Convergence of online banking, social networking, gaming, rewards and payments

We have seen that the impact on these metrics varies significantly across services and it is important for banks to know which to focus on. However it is clear that online banking will continue to grow.

MOBILE BANKING: Background and Key Drivers: Though mobile banking has been around for over a decade, its adoption rate and popularity have grown over the last few years. Customer attitudes towards mobile banking have become positive due to the emergence of advanced mobile and smartphone technology. Mobile financial services not only fill the need for anytime banking for customers, they also have the potential to reach out to a large un-banked population. Low operating costs and higher penetration rates of mobile phones across all demographics make this particularly attractive in developing markets. Banks are looking at newer avenues such as mobile remote deposit capture (RDC) and mobile marketing to provide valueadded services to their customers, while simultaneously reducing operational costs. Analysis Banks are also leveraging mobile channels to increase sales of their new products by engaging their customers through gameification (i.e. mobile applications in form of games). In a highly difficult regulatory environment, banks can increase revenues by monetizing their mobile channel through mobile RDC. Banks can charge a nominal fee to customers, who will be happy to pay a small charge for the convenience offered. Analysing what is important for their customers will enable banks to develop a focused channelspecific strategy and will boost customer retention and loyalty Implications Banks have stopped looking at the mobile banking channel in isolation and are focusing now on a multi-channel approach to deliver a seamless customer experience. To deliver an enhanced mobile banking experience, banks will have to come up with a comprehensive mobile banking strategy where technology and smartphone functionalities are leveraged. To drive a high-level of adoption, banks also need to have in place an integrated mobile banking platform that delivers an optimized solution across different device types and mobile platforms. Banks need to develop a strategy on how best to leverage mobile marketing for business growth and more efficient customer service. They can actually integrate mobile marketing efforts with social media to offer customized deals based on individual customer preferences Background and Key Drivers Cost-to-serve for customers using mobile banking is lower than that for non-adopters. Mobile bankers make fewer branch visits and frequent lowercost channels. It makes sense for banks to increase their base of mobile banking customers. Moreover, these features act as differentiators and enable banks to attract new customers. Analysis Consumer mobile RDC is in a nascent stage, but is expected to grow rapidly as banks across the globe are planning to launch mobile RDC solutions for customers. According to a 2011 survey by Celent, the percentage of banks that were planning or considering a mobile RDC solution more than doubled to 66% in 2011 from just 26% in 2009, in part due to the influence of the highly advertised launch of Chase Mobile Deposit in 2010.6 Initially the banks targeted niche businesses (from which banks can charge hefty fees) for mobile RDC, but the trend is changing. In the survey mentioned above, 81% of respondents reported targeting the mass markeBanks are creating applications to leverage mobility for marketing and providing

unique value-added services to customers. Implications The increased focus on mobile RDC and mobile marketing provides an opportunity for banks to strengthen their relationships with the customer by offering them value-added services. . Banks will also need to have the required infrastructure to support the growing demand for mobile RDC, and ensure the right internal processes are in place. Trend : Increased Leverage of Social Media and Social Analytics Tools Background and Key Drivers Customers today expect financial firms to listen, respond, and offer service through social media. They expect their banks to use social media to provide customer service and financial advice, share financial offers and upcoming events, and allow them to provide feedback about bank services and products. Further, with the rise in the use of smartphones and tablets, the need of the hour is to take the social media to mobile devices as well. Banks can leverage social media channel to offer a high level of personal interaction to customers at relatively lower cost as compared to branch banking. Moreover, banks can enhance customer intelligence by combining it with social analytics to get deep insights into customer behaviors, sentiments, and needs. Social media, when used internally, presents an opportunity to increase workforce efficiency by enabling employees working across various teams/locations to interact and share information and best practices. Analysis Banks understand the importance of social media tools to interact with their customers and most of them have accounts/pages/channels on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. But they have yet to fully harness the potential of social media tools by using customer data which has potential implications for credit decisions, relationship pricing, and loan-collections. The challenge for banks is to integrate and transform social media from just social screening for e-reputation to social to lead for business expansion and enhanced decision making. Some banks have taken a proactive approach and have started using data from social media for pricing of loans and products. For example, MovenBank (U.S.) has developed a credit-scoring product called CRED which combines traditional scoring elements with consumer data from Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites to ascertain creditworthiness and price loans accordingly. Social media is fast becoming an important part of a multi-channel strategy for banks. Further, the use of social media data is taking the form of social analytics, which helps transform the enterprise customer relationship management system into social customer relationship management. The input from social customer relationship management enables banks to develop profound knowledge about their customers, including sentiments, wishes, and needs, resulting in improved decision-making. Today, most banks also think about social media as a tool for increasing workforce collaboration. This is leading to social media transformation inside the financial services companies. Companies are exploring ways to leverage social tools to increase work efficiency through enhanced team-level collaboration. Implications As customers increasingly leverage social media as a platform to formulate opinions about financial products and services, banks have realized that social media needs to be incorporated in their marketing strategy.

However, retail banks need to exploit social media wisely. Along with benefits it has potential risks related to branding, customer information security, and regulatory compliance. Banks need to develop adequate social media governance model which not only comply with existing regulations but also provides flexibility to meet the constantly evolving nature of social media. Additionally, banks will need to invest significant time and money to upgrade their existing technology infrastructure to integrate with social media and to derive real value out of social networks. Banks should work on meticulously designing the operating model for social media by involving the right people and clearly defining the value expected out of the initiative. This will help banks to calculate the ROI for expenses required for this initiative. The social media strategy for a bank should incorporate well-defined metrics that reflect its progress as defined as part of the strategy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/CRM.html http://www.online.citibank.co.in/products-services/onlineservices/online-services-home.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_banking http://kaiserthesage.com/seo-strategies-resources/social-mediastrategies/ http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/customerservice/a/custservrules.ht m