Enhancing the capability of SME relationship managers and their support teams improved business results in two quarters. HSBC – business banking

The Opportunity

The on-boarding process for new business customers was painful and took far too long. This led to a high percentage of new SME customers expressing dis-satisfaction about the service they received. Our client was concerned about the the impact of negative word of mouth on the Bank’s reputation, on the prospect of losing clients in such a competitive market and on the potential to increase the sales of other Bank products to its SME clients.

The Solution

• One of the major problems for this division is that they viewed customers needs through they eyes of HSBC and the Bank’s functional and operational processes. The first thing we did in our work was to change the perspective and the language used. We began by starting with customers’ needs and describing the customer journey in customer language
• By mining the Bank‘s existing customer research we developed a unique customer promise based around the most important expectations of target customers
• We mapped the customer journey and were able to identify the ‘hygiene’ touchpoints as well as the points at which the Bank could create real, differentiated value for customers
• As a platform for the training we designed, cp2 refined the competencies for the SME population and integrated new behaviours into their sales process
• We then designed and rolled out a highly tailored workshop for the SME RM population, their teams and their managers

The Results

• All senior stakeholders and their teams attended the training to rave reviews and outstanding end of session evaluations
• Referrals increased by 40% between July and December after delivery of the training. New business increased from a 2% quarter on quarter growth rate to 8%
• Customer satisfaction scores improved from 55% very satisfied increased to 69% in the bank surveys that were conducted pre and post the training
• The annual bank wide-staff survey showed dramatically improved scores for ‘internal collaboration’ and ensuring ‘nothing gets in the way of delivering excellent customer service’
• Because of this increase in business, the initiative paid for itself in two quarters
• Due to its success, the programme was delivered outside the SME group to a further 500 bank relationship managers