Customer Experience
Garanti BBVA’s consistent performance in customer experience rely on four key competencies that it embraced in the execution of its strategy: Customer Understanding Capacity, Design Philosophy adopted, Empathetic Culture espoused by each member of the organization and advanced Measurement Systems allowing constant self-control.
1 - CUSTOMER UNDERSTANDING CAPACITY
In 2018, as it did in 2017, Garanti BBVA kept generating insights providing a better understanding of its customers through regular feedback directly from its customers and also from its employees. In 2018, the Bank contacted nearly 733 thousand customers and received their feedbacks concerning their needs and expectations, brand perception and their journeys. In addition, employees conveyed more than 1,000 opinions through the Önersen suggestion platform and supported development of services.
All insights that become a part of Garanti BBVA’s corporate intellectual capital have been regularly utilized by employees also in 2018. The design teams, in particular, made use of customers’ and employees’ opinions throughout the entire process from problem identification to solution generation.
2 - DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
In order to deliver a good customer experience, the experience at all digital and physical touch points, in other words the entire journey needs to be designed carefully end-to-end. The ‘Customer Journey’ methodology adopted by Garanti BBVA has become a powerful tool in creating a consistent and seamless experience, and guided the development activities also in 2018.
The efforts in 2018 concentrated on critical journeys most frequently experienced by customers, such as credit cards, loans, onboarding, and complaints. Customers’ journeys on digital channels have also been analyzed utilizing advanced data modeling, and actions have been identified.
3 - EMPATHIC CULTURE
Garanti BBVA employees are the key actors when designing new products and services, and when implementing designs. To deliver a good customer experience, the atmosphere, mood and understanding dominating the organization should also be conducive.
Initiated to constantly nurture and maintain the customer centric culture, “Garanti BBVA Empathy” program left its second year behind in 2018. Also this year, Garanti BBVA Empathy continued to provide a platform for all Garanti BBVA employees to stay informed about the Bank-wide customer experience projects, learn about best practices both internally and worldwide, access tools such as guidelines, tips and trainings for self-improvement, and share their empathy stories with others to inspire new ones.
2018 marked the inception of a ritual where branches that make a difference in customer experience with all their employees are rewarded within the scope of Garanti BBVA Empathy activities. Each year, the most successful branch team in terms of customer experience in the preceding year will be presented with various surprises, and will also display the designed award in the branch throughout the year. The award will be circulated by being handed over to the most successful branch every year, and will become a deep-seated sign of Garanti BBVA’s aspiration to create unparalleled customer experience.
4 - MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS
In 2018, Garanti BBVA carried on with regular measurements on the basis of channels and products to see its position in customer experience and understand the impact of its activities and efforts. All branch employees can monitor customer feedback regarding the customer experience they have delivered on a daily basis through after-service surveys. Branch managers contact the surveyed customers and turn the feedback received into necessary actions.
The Bank began employing mobile channels in addition to branches and the call center for gathering customer feedback on their digital experiences. Nearly 100 thousand customers using Garanti BBVA Mobile Banking application, Garanti BBVA One and BonusFlaş shared their opinions regarding the application they have used right after their transactions. These customers’ scores are monitored on a daily basis and the Customer Experience Support Team contacts those assigning low scores, seeking their feedbacks and orienting them to relevant solutions.
The positive outcomes of efforts carried out based on the four key competencies mentioned above and aimed at continuously leveraging customer experience were reflected in various indicators also this year:
- Garanti BBVA reproduced the same successful result of 2017, and has become the bank to receive the highest NPS from retail customers in 20181;
- Garanti BBVA has taken the top rank both in banking and credit card categories at the A.L.F.A. Awards 2018 with its success in customer experience management2;
- The number of complaints by the Bank’s 1.000 active customers went down by 16% as compared with the previous year;
- During 2018 that proved to be a trying year for the Turkish economy and financial markets, after-service surveys revealed that the Bank preserved its NPS;
- Garanti BBVA was named the Best Cash Management Bank in Turkey at the Global Finance awards for the third consecutive year. At the Stevie Awards, the Bank earned Bronze in the Best Cash Management Team about Customer Service category. At the Best in Biz awards, the Bank received the silver medal in the best Business Development Team category.
1 Net Promoter Score research was conducted by independent research agency Ipsos for Garanti BBVA . According to the research results, Garanti BBVA has the highest Net Promoter Score, among retail customers representing its own profile, compared to the peer group, which consists of Garanti BBVA, İşbank, Akbank, Yapı Kredi Bank, QNB Finansbank and Denizbank. Research was conducted between May 2018 and December 2018. Main bank customers, who have communicated with their respective banks over the last 3 months, were surveyed face to face in the cities of İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Kocaeli, Bursa, Antalya ve Adana by quota sampling. Score is calculated as a weighted average of retail segments’ scores.
2 Organized since 2015 by Marketing Türkiye and recognizing brands that make a difference in their respective sectors with the experience delivered to customers, A.L.F.A. Awards winners are determined by customers.