Are banks aware of their true differentiators?
Do banks care about managing CX? Are they capturing the value behind it?
In our annual report “CX in Mexican Banks Branches 2018” we provide answers to the questions above (and more) based on a handful of mystery shopping visits made to the major retail banks in Mexico.
The main findings are:
Waiting times are the top dissatisfier
a. The great majority of negative experiences were driven by poor waiting times. In 4 out of 10 visits, the mystery shopper had to wait at least 10 minutes (and up to 1 hour) to be served.
b. Additionally, there is high variability in waiting times among banks. E.g., an average customer had to wait 3.5X more when visiting the worst vs. the best performing bank.
2. Service experience is not consistent ACROSS BRANCHES OF THE SAME BANK
a. The few great experiences were driven in all cases by the exceptional service provided by the agent.
b. Nonetheless, those situatoins—given inconsistency across branches—seemed to rely more on individual agents’ initiative and natural skill rather than on management strategies.
3. The role of the front line is reactive / order-taking rather than proactive / value-selling
a. In general, the front line in major Mexican retail banks “informs” but does not “adivse”. Agents react to specific questions by rushing to their whole product offer instead of engaging in a conversation to discover the real needs of the customer.
b. Proof of that is that in 1 of every 2 interactions, the shopper felt that the agent had no interest in selling. Additionally, in 1 of every 4 interactions, the shopper sensed that the agent was not listening closely and was explicitly following a script.
4. The lack of listening and advising extends to lack of differentiators
a. We asked the banks: “Why should I bank with you?”. Overall, in 2 of every 3 interactions the front line was not able to (i) convey a consistent value proposition and supporting proof points (if any) and (ii) underscore their bank’s differentiators with respect to competition.
b. These were some of their answers:
5. In sum, branch experience in major Mexican retail banks is far from being exceptional
a. The following chart shows the Delos Advisors Customer Experience Index (CXI) per bank. The CXI measures 12 attributes, like waiting experience, agents’ knowledge, and agents’ clarity, and ranges from 0-100% where 100% is an exceptionally positive experience.
b. After 1,500 observations in more than 120 visits, CXI for major Mexican retail banks ranged between 47% and 66%, which depicts that industrywide there is plenty of room for improval in Customer Experience.
For further detail on the full report please contact info@delosadvisors.com