.SERVICES - Banks

Bank customer satisfaction is pinnacle to customer retention. What steps are you taking to ensure your customers don’t take their accounts to a competing institution? Proactive steps will increase customer satisfaction. Our quality assurance evaluations provide the opportunity to view your employee-customer interactions objectively.

• “Customers do more business with banks they like, and switch from banks that do a poor job satisfying customers,” said Jeff Taylor, director of the banking practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “The banks that are going above and beyond to satisfy their customers…are the ones who enjoy higher retention and commitment rates among their customers, which is essential in the industry’s intense competitive landscape.”

• Transactions have the greatest impact on a customer’s overall satisfaction with their bank. Overall, in-person branch transactions are conducted most frequently and are next highest in satisfaction, followed by ATM and online transactions.

• Problems that focus on “in-person” customer service issues—such as in-branch and phone customer service—have the greatest impact on the overall banking experience

• The proximity of branches and free services are the top reasons people initially choose a bank.

• Lower fees, better branch access, better service, and improved Web site access and reliability are the top reasons customers switch banks.

• Omnipresent bank mergers are not contributing to improved customer satisfaction.

* Some of the abovementioned data was from the 2006 J.D. Power and Associated Retail Banking Satisfaction Study and American Customer Satisfaction Index