For us, the best time of the year continues to be the customer service week. While every day, is customer service day at the National Bank, having that one week dedicated fully to celebrating both our internal and external customers is quite close to our heart.
This year was no different and we especially loved the theme, “Listening to our customers”, after all as Malcom Forbes wisely states, “The art of conversation lies in listening.”
In line with that we picked our brains to come up with a personal theme which would resonate with the umbrella theme, “Listening to our customers”. The theme we adopted for was the ‘rainbow theme. The reason for choosing this was because of our diverse customer demographics. The different colors were used to signify that we welcome and appreciate diversity.
We also tied our mood and feel of the day at the bank to the values and moods exuded by the different colors as below;
Red– This is the first color of the rainbow from top. Red signifies passion, vitality, enthusiasm and security. Red inspires action and confidence and excitement.
Orange– This light or color is a combination of yellow and red. It is a dynamic color representing creativity, relief from boredom, practicality, playfulness as well as equilibrium or control.
Yellow–It represents clarity of thought, wisdom, better decision making skills, orderliness and energy.
Green – Denotes fertility, growth and expansion, harmony, balance, health and wealth.
Blue– Associated with Spirituality and Divinity, Peace and understanding, calms, relaxes and enhances the easy flow of communication with yourself or others.
Indigo – Bridges the Gap between Finite and Infinite, increases personal thought, profound insights, and an understanding of one’s self and enhancement of Intuition.
Violet – It is a royal color signifying nobility, ignites one’s imagination and inspiration. Deeper shades of violet or purple denote high spiritual mastery.
The rainbow theme was a fun experience for all of us. We would all dress in the specific color of the day, for example ‘RedMonday’, ‘OrangeTuesday’, ‘YellowWednesday’ and so on and so forth.
Our week commenced on Monday by adorning the red color in the rainbow. All members of staff stepped out that day; men in red ties, pocket squares or even ‘happy’ socks. Red suits, dresses, shoes and scarves for the ladies. On the red Monday our various branches ushered in customers into the colorfully decorated banking halls where each branch had to have a well organized arch of balloons representing the rainbow.
Customers were then treated to fresh red apples and juice just to show them how much we appreciate them. Staff members had fun taking selfies with customers. These were widely shared on all social media platforms and in our internal e-newsletter, Linked & Wired. This was repeated throughout each day of the week with each activity being aligned to the color of the day.
Alongside the theme, we also came up with a social media Hashtag #BongaNaNational. This was basically a call to customers to talk to us and air their feedback and/or grievances. Our customers were quite responsive, airing the feedback using the hashtag. Our internal customers participated by accompanying the colorful pictures linked to the hashtag on their social media platforms. The same was duplicated for the following days, that is, Orange Tuesday, yellow Wednesday, green Thursday, cultural Friday and finally blue/Indigo/violet Saturday.
Our customers celebrating their birthdays that week were also in for a treat as our contact center called them personally to wish them a happy birthday and remind them of how much we at National Bank appreciate serving them.
Another key activity that we engaged in was our sticky note feedback stations in all the branches. We set up a specific area in the bank where customers who visited the branches/head office units would be handed colorful sticky notes to write their feedback. It was a great incentive as we got to learn firsthand what the customers felt about the brand.
Since the members of staff are also an integral part of our customers, we came up with a plan where the communication team called members of staff to thank them for their continued efforts and appreciate them for the tremendous support each one accords the bank as they go about their daily duties.
Our executive management also participated in the week’s activities and serving the customers at teller booths as well as ushering them in to the banking halls.
The week ended on a high note with all of us adorning cultural attire to celebrate and embrace all the diverse cultures that both our internal and external customers belong to.
A memorable week it was!
Winning the award- “Most Aligned to the Theme’
Winning the award was an awesome experience for us. We were glad that while we were out trying to please our customers, our efforts were also being noted. This is not an award for just the bank. Rather, it as an award for each member of staff who put in individual effort as well. Our members of staff who tirelessly wake up every day and put their best foot forward are the reason why we have a great customer service and the reason why we won the award. It is also an award for our external customers who relentlessly continue to put their trust in us.
Plans for 2017
The journey to being great never ends. For the year 2017, we look forward to a more productive year; Productivity in terms of providing and creating new products that address the needs of all our customers. We also plan on improving and coming up to date with all forms of communication especially on the digital space, to ensure that our customers can reach us wherever they are.
We plan to continue fulfilling our mission, which involves providing competitive financial solutions, meeting the changing needs of our customers, being a responsible Corporate Citizen, providing attractive opportunities to our employees and improving shareholders Value. As always, we want our customers to keep banking on better.
