2 page Case Study - Posted 5/6/2009

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Barclays Bank PLC

Bank Adopts Technology to Improve Customer Satisfaction and Promote Retention

Barclays Bank PLC provides banking, investment banking, and investment management services throughout the world, including the Arabian Peninsula. After introducing consumer banking services in the United Arab Emirates, a system was needed to track and resolve both complaints and sales leads in a timely manner. To ensure the retention and satisfaction of customers while booking new business, managers implemented Microsoft Dynamics® CRM. Since deploying it, customer service has improved markedly while the sales process has been structured and standardized for success.

Business Needs

Over the last three centuries, UK-based Barclays Bank PLC (LSE: BARC.L) has grown to be one of the world’s leading banks. The bank offers commercial and private banking services as well as investment banking and investment management offerings.

In 2007, Barclays expanded its Gulf presence by launching a consumer banking business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). At that time, customer complaints were processed manually. “All service inquiries were captured by e-mail and sent all over the bank,” recalls Umair Chaudhary, Chief Operating Officer, Barclays Bank LP, UAE and Gulf. “There was little structure to our process.”

As a result, some complaints fell through the cracks, which in turn led to more complaints. The manual system of e-mail, spreadsheets, and paper files often stretched resolution times beyond established service level agreements (SLAs). That, in turn, spawned more complaints.

Managers took action to address the service shortfall but they lacked the tools to collate, track, and report meaningful data. For instance, they couldn’t identify recurring complaints or take action to head off emerging issue trends.

Similarly, the bank lacked a structured process to handle sales leads. “Each sales person was maintaining their own spreadsheet of leads and consolidating that data was very challenging for our team leaders and managers,” says Chaudhary. “Everyone was operating in their own area so our ability to cross-sell services was limited.”

Solution

The IT team evaluated a number of potential customer relationship management (CRM) solutions including the bank’s in-house CRM application and Oracle CRM. After a preliminary evaluation, the team issued requests for proposal to the two finalists. The bank’s global sourcing team reviewed Gartner and Forrester research reports as well as the finalists’ proposals. They also considered user ratings resulting from a hands-on workshop. When the scorecard

We advanced our ranking in customer service from fifth among foreign banks in the UAE to second according to a third-party survey. Umair Chaudhary Chief Operating Officer, Barclays Bank LP, UAE and Gulf

“Our users were already switching between five screens among our core banking systems,” says Noman Rasheed, Deputy Head of Technology, Barclays Bank LP, UAE. “We needed a solution that was not only very easy to learn and use, but could integrate easily with our systems so that we could consolidate everything onto one screen. And given our small IT staff, we didn’t have an army of resources to support the in-house or Oracle alternatives. By contrast, Microsoft Dynamics CRM met these criteria.”

Barclays then began working with Microsoft® Gold Certified partner Tradesoft and Microsoft Consulting Services to deploy the platform’s service module. Consultants implemented it at the bank’s call center, branches, and sales and service centers. When a complaint is received, it is logged and routed to appropriate personnel and tracked through to resolution.
All front-line employees and sales specialists use the sales module to manage and track their sales leads as well as sell additional services to existing customers. In total, 1,000 employees use customer data and automated sales and service processes to meet their SLAs and sales goals.

Benefits

Microsoft Dynamics CRM replaced manual systems and spreadsheets with a dynamic platform to improve Barclay’s UAE customer service, sales, and business operations. The bank uses the Microsoft Dynamics CRM workflow engine to improve the efficiency of service and sales processes while empowering executives to continuously monitor and improve employees’ performance.

“Microsoft Dynamics CRM has been essential to helping us improve our customer satisfaction levels and implement an effective sales management process,” says Chaudhary. “It provides a single version of our customer data to all our sales staff.”

By taking advantage of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform and making continuous process improvements, “We advanced our ranking in customer service from fifth among foreign banks in the UAE to second according to a third-party survey,” explains Chaudhary.

Significant Improvements to Customer Service and Satisfaction

• Customer complaints were cut by 25 percent. Microsoft Dynamics CRM automatically logs and tracks complaints until resolution. Workflows assign complaints to the appropriate person/department. This ensures prompt service and a satisfactory resolution of issues.
• Complaint escalations were slashed by 80 percent (from 15 percent to 3 percent). Microsoft Dynamics CRM uses business rules to trigger alerts and escalations for complaints not resolved within established SLAs to promote accountability.
• Customer satisfaction increased by 15 percent. By tracking complaints and shortening their time-to-resolution, the bank’s customer experience was improved for both pre- and post-sales transactions.

Notable Efficiency Improvements Cut Operating Costs

• The cost-per-incident was reduced by 22 percent. Twenty-five service processes and 30 complaint processes were mapped into workflows that use automation technology. As a result, the complain unit staff was reduced from 18 to 14.
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM places minimal demands on the bank’s small IT staff because it integrates easily, users adopt it quickly, and it’s easy to maintain. Front-line support employees with little development and programming experience make changes to fields and page layouts. Business Managers can configure and tailor reports without IT support.
• The bank is integrating Microsoft Dynamics CRM with its five core banking and card systems. Users will access a single screen versus switching between multiple screens from separate systems.

Business Intelligence Capabilities Empower Proactive Management of Service and Sales Areas

• Managers have created 25 customized reports to identify leading service complaints and take action to address them. They also use the reports to proactively address trends in service issues and lower customer turnover.
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides Barclays with a single, standardized leads processing and tracking platform. Whatever the leads’ source, workflows route them to the proper employee and track the actions they take. Thus, managers can easily create pipeline reports, monitor sales processes, and identify lagging sales personnel who need coaching.
• The CRM solution provides a single, unified version of role-based customer data to users throughout the bank. Employees know at a glance which services to cross sell and up sell.