A few days ago, I walked into what I am told, and know to be, one of the better and more reputed private banks in our country.
I walked in with the intention of getting information about how to open a bank account, and was greeted with the usual cacophony that is supposedly the norm in these establishments.
Admittedly, being slightly clueless about the procedure, and where to go, I looked about aimlessly, pirouetting my body with all the elegance that my lumbering frame would allow, trying to make eye contact with one of the employees, in the hope that they would realize that I needed some assistance, and point me to where I could seek the answers to my questions.
I dislike confrontations tremendously, but after my rotations became a tad wearisome, and after I realized that my best attempts at attracting attention were in vain, I had to muster the courage to go up to a table, and ask the gentleman sitting behind it about where I needed to go in order to get some information.
The rest of the visit was pleasant enough, and I eventually got the information I came for. But I couldn’t, and indeed haven’t been able to, get my mind off the fact that had I not persisted in overcoming my fear of confrontation, and walked out of that bank, absolutely nobody would have noticed. It was as if I was invisible, and not a potential customer.
What made this experience particularly peculiar was the nature of banks -- customers weren’t a one-time done and dusted transaction. Quite the contrary, in fact. Chances are, that a customer, in the case of selecting a bank for the first time, sticks to the choice for a significant amount of time, and in certain cases, it could even span a lifetime.
A lifetime of salaries, fixed deposits, possible loans -- that is a lot of business this bank is potentially losing. In my situation, all they required was someone at the entrance to greet me, ask me my motive, and point me towards where I needed to go. It really doesn’t sound like rocket science.
But this paints a larger problem within most organizations of the country -- the inability to be customer centric.
Corporations and businesses worldwide are increasingly moving towards a two-way communication instead of pushing their messaging onto new and existing customers. Furthermore, good customer service, especially towards potential customers, has repeatedly been confirmed to be paramount in the establishment of an enduring and successful business or brand.
There is sound business logic to treating people with respect as they venture into your establishment, or indeed, in contact with your brand, beyond just being respectful. Human beings are heuristic creatures -- we will for the most part choose the shortest, safest option, and not engage our already overworked brains to make decisions more complicated than they already are.
Therefore, a certain brand -- be it your mother’s preferred washing powder, your brother’s deodorant, or your family’s choice of restaurants for special occasions -- could, and often does, firmly establish in your mind, and you try not to think about the other options too much.
The global consultancy giant McKinsey refers to this heuristic behaviour as the loyalty loop, a process where the customer no longer adheres to the traditional approach of the marketing purchase funnel, but instead, people’s inherent nature, leaning towards taking the safe or easy option, chooses to be loyal to specific brands.
Businesses naturally try to take advantage of this heuristic nature within humans, because of course, maintaining customer loyalty is a significant undertaking -- it does not just happen, and brands and businesses can’t just rest easy with the expectation that customers will stick with them, if they’re not given reason to do so. Both the pre-purchase and the post-purchase experience have significant impact on whether or not a customer continues to show loyalty.
However, it seems in our country, customer retention is hardly a priority for businesses -- in fact, in the case of establishments such as banks, it seems they’re not even doing the best job of customer attraction. Sure, there’s talk of it at seminars, and morning meetings, but sub-par customer service and a lack of acknowledgment towards potential customers are not doing such establishments any favours.
But this has always been a problem in our country. In battling the apathy that is the bane of existence as a Bangladeshi, it has been difficult for businesses to recognize the human aspect of operating. As we move towards development, towards the distinction of no longer being an LDC, of being a middle income country, how we do business, and how we treat customers, will be a definitive factor in how we are perceived globally.
AHM Mustafizur Rahman has a Master’s in Strategic Brand Management, and is an Editorial Assistant at Dhaka Tribune.
