Best Practices: Up Close and Personal: Delivering Delight to Banking Customers in the Middle East & Africa Region

One way in which a bank can remain competitive in the market is by offering exceptional service to its customers. However, this paradigm goes beyond merely satisfying customers by meeting their expectations, and extends into the realm of delighting customers by exceeding their expectations and pleasantly surprising them.

This study outlines the various technologies that can be beneficial in maintaining high levels of service excellence and delighting banking customers, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), business and customer analytics, document management, data warehousing, and Internet and mobile technologies. It also provides a discussion of the non-technology requirements behind initiating and sustaining an effective customer delight initiative.

"Faced with increased competition, banks throughout the Middle East and Africa are being challenged to continue expanding their business operations while improving efficiency ratios. Responding quickly to customer demands for consistent service across all delivery channels requires a sound strategy, increased collaboration, and seamless service delivery regardless of point of contact. Banks also need to ensure they provide employees with the requisite tools to effectively manage and grow customer relationships and share of wallet." - Mark Walker, Director, IDC Insights and Vertical Industries, Middle East, Africa, and Turkey