This paper examines the relationship between long waiting lines in banks and poor customer satisfaction, and the downstream effects on revenue and repeat business. It surveys several innovative solutions that banks have adopted, including online and 24-hour telephone banking, ATM enhancements, back-office reengineering modeled on mass-production principles, and the segregation of customer queues by service type. Drawing on real-world examples from BayBanks of Massachusetts, Citicorp, and ASB Bank Limited, the paper argues that strategically addressing wait times allows banks to deliver higher-quality service and sustain long-term profitability.
Long waiting lines in banks equate to poor customer satisfaction, and as is widely known, customer satisfaction has a direct impact on revenues and repeat business. A bank should therefore be strongly focused on its customer service philosophy and execution. Waiting lines highlight the need for adequate staff, the need to segregate lines according to speed and type of service, and the inefficiencies of banking bureaucracy. More and more banks have consequently resorted to innovative customer service strategies as solutions to these problems.
Today, customers enjoy online banking. With a host of Internet support channels available, banks provide additional web-based support alternatives, including e-mail support, chat solutions, search utilities, FAQ tools, and automated agents. The establishment of a 24-hour customer service center not only responds to queries and complaints but also promotes and sells the bank's products and services. BayBanks of Massachusetts, for example, operates a center that allows customers to open a checking account at any hour or negotiate an overdraft at 2 a.m.
The ATM has also been reconfigured at some institutions to buy and sell mutual funds, extending its role well beyond simple cash withdrawal. Another important solution is to reengineer back-room operations, which often consist of many repetitive tasks that hamper front-line service. Citicorp addressed this by applying the concept of mass production — streamlining and standardizing back-office tasks to free up capacity at the customer-facing level. Banks can also provide useful service information, such as identifying the busiest days at a branch, so that customers may choose to avoid peak periods.
With the segregation of lines, ASB Bank Limited created two distinct customer flows to deliver services more effectively. One flow was designated for loans and similar products that require customized and personalized attention. The other was reserved for standard, repetitive services such as deposits and withdrawals. By creating two service environments that cater to two fundamentally different types of customer needs, service is both enhanced and accelerated for all customers.
The solutions discussed above — online and around-the-clock service channels, ATM enhancements, back-office reengineering, and queue segregation — may allow banks to deliver quality customer service, providing them with the means to sustain long-term profitability.
"ASB Bank splits lines by service type for efficiency"
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