Elizabeth Ekanem: Exceptional Service as Soul of Customer Experience   

Having gained expertise in customer engagement in the banking industry for over a decade, Elizabeth Ekanem, Head of Customer Experience, Kuda Microfinance Bank shares her insights on what makes customer service exceptional with Yinka Olatunbosun

Facts need no sugar coating: customers are happy when service is great. And no one understands this better than Elizabeth Ekanem, the Head of Customer Experience at Kuda Microfinance Bank. Having travelled through the hoops of customer engagement in the banking industry for over a decade, Ekanem has gained expertise in complaints resolution and management in reputable financial institutions before securing her spot at Kuda. 

Sharing her knowledge, she explained how exceptional customer service extends beyond resolving issues for customers. Using her work at Kuda as a reference point, she revealed how customers become loyal to a brand.

“It is basically anticipating a customer’s needs, being accessible and being empathetic when you are speaking to the customer,” she began. “We offer empathetic support and we are continually improving all our processes; our services are based on the feedback we receive.

“At the end of the day, the resultant effect is to make the customer feel valued and eventually fosters loyalty through trust and brand engagement. It is creating a memorable experience for customers at every interaction they have with us.”

As a tech-driven financial institution, Kuda’s customers usually engage with the brand using various electronic channels like emails, in-app chat and social media. Feedback is taken at every interaction.

At the onset of fintech in Nigeria’s economy, there were apprehensions from sceptics who had doubts about the efficiency of tech-driven banks in a country where national grid collapse is the new normal. 

Another factor that is responsible for the initial apprehension about digital banking is that people were concerned about being able to engage physically with the bank the same way as they would do with an all-brick-and-mortar bank. Ekanem disclosed that helping customers focus on the benefits of digital banking has helped to boost confidence in the system.

“As a bank, we stand out by providing what we call a tech-driven approach to personalised service. Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar banks, where you have to pay your way to get to the location to make complaints or get an issue resolved, we have embedded every service in our app.

“Whatever you need to do, we don’t want you to leave the comfort of your home. You can stay wherever you are and sort out that issue. We already have a pop-up on your screen telling you what is required for you to make your engagement with us seamless. We emphasise a smooth user experience in-app and prompt resolution of issues. In every interaction you have, if you click on that transaction that you want to report, as soon as you submit it, at the back end, a ticket is issued to notify you that the transaction has been received by the bank, and even the timeline that it takes to resolve these issues are documented.”

For her, the strength of customer service delivery lies in the ability to combine technology with personalised service to make sure that engagement with customers is transparent and as seamless as possible.

Indeed, feedback has taken a different dimension with the digital technology disruption. Feedback used to be delayed before the internet revolution. But today, social media have become platforms which disgruntled customers leverage to make complaints public. Sometimes, negative remarks can go viral and spark online outrage as seen in several examples of supposed reputable banks. Ekanem disclosed how Kuda has managed to steer away from such escalations through innovation. She maintained that feedback should not be dreaded. Rather, it should be a driving force to innovate and improve services.

“I always tell people that if your customers stop complaining or giving you feedback, it means that they have lost trust in your organisation. For us, customer feedback is a driving force for our innovation.  It influences our product update and service enhancement; once we get feedback, we act on it. When a customer complains, read between the lines. There are so many things you can deduce from customers’ complaints to come up with new ideas. 

“By actively listening to customers which we are doing, we can quickly identify weak points or areas that we need improvement and adapt to our customer needs. We appreciate every feedback we get because that’s how we show we listen to our customers. Feedback is a driving force to innovate, to improve on our service.” 

Citing the self-help app as an example of an innovation that came as a result of response to customers’ feedback, she explained how empathising with customers who often wait in queues propelled the bank to create sustainable solutions to customers’ needs.

“We had a situation where a customer complained about the difficulty in submitting complaints to the bank,” she continued. “We came in and decided on what to do to ensure that customers do not wait so long in a queue when they need to report their issues. That’s why they send emails or reach out to us in-app.  We came up with the self-help app. Instead of going back to give us the transaction to give us the information we need to fix that issue, we will just click on a button, and all the information will be on a form, and we will give you an opportunity to review the form. And if everything is fine, we give you a space to write your comments to tell us what else you’d want us to do. We have drop-downs that give options for transactions, and once you submit it, we are already at work.”

Ekanem further explained that to go ‘above and beyond’ means to be empowered. As a team lead,  she ensures that her personnel are trained to read between the lines. Every interaction with the customer should not be taken at a face-value level. By thinking ahead of the customer, the customer experience becomes seamless.

“As a business person, if you have a business account with us and transactions live in your balances, we celebrate successes and we celebrate you also. We create experiences about things that are personal and satisfying to our customers. That’s how we have embraced and embodied the theme of ‘Above and Beyond.’ We are not basic but we are above and beyond.”

One of the best things that can happen to a bank is to have customers act voluntarily as foot soldiers, promoting the brand based on their personal experiences. This is how customer loyalty is solidified. And it is not achieved overnight.

“Building a long-term relationship depends on the customer’s journey with your business,” she explained further. “From the point of advertising to turning customers into brand advocates, a joinery keeps changing. What a customer experiences today is different from what he would experience tomorrow. We engage in regular communication with our customers. We try to align with their goals. We are seeing in leaps and bounds how customers are building and even referring others to us. That’s how to build long-term relationships not just with the customer but people around them. Regular communication is also important.”  

Understanding that customers’ needs vary is vital to developing an inclusive framework for delivering exceptional customer service experience to all. This is where empathy comes in. Ekanem ensures that her team members develop the attribute to serve customers accordingly.

“Some customers learn swiftly and some just want to take their time to interact with the app. When they hit a roadblock, they need to know that they can reach out to the bank. And we are there to help them through that process. 

“Once we know it is a challenge of language barrier, we let our customer service personnel help them in the language they understand. When you empathise with customers in unique situations, you are able to address their concerns to create a lasting positive impact on us as a business. Now we offer support in all the three major languages in Nigeria. Once a customer reaches out to us and we link him up with the support personnel in the language they understand. 

During the cash crunch, many credible banks suffered an in-app failure of some sort, forcing many customers to migrate to digital banks. Ekanem explained how Kuda had earned some measure of public trust despite not operating a sheet-of-paper kind of business.

“We have earned public trust by ensuring transparency, security, and reliability,” she said. “Glitches happen but the speed at which you come back is very important. It is apt for you to send customers emails to inform them in case there is a glitch. When a customer goes in-app and he sees what the issue that he is going through is, he will be assured.”

Customers’ expectations keep evolving every day. Hence, Ekanem ensures that improving on service delivery is vital to customer retention. The introduction of customer satisfaction surveys has helped them to get the information and data needed to execute trend analysis. 

Training employees as front liners prepares them for customer engagement. With the right tools, customers’ demands are met. When asked what advice she would give to an organisation that is struggling with customer relationship management, she reiterated the points she stated earlier: “listening to customers, taking feedback seriously, conducting trend analysis and taking actionable steps to improve.”

The mother of three values her work and manages to balance this with her love for her family. The devoted mother was animated when she recalled the support her children offer whenever she had to do virtual meetings from home.

“Once I’m done with work, then it is family time. If an issue is shared with you and it has been sorted out, I do that even from home. Still, there is a clear-cut line between family and work life and I have gotten the best of both worlds.”