14 | The Lion King
Consumer
Experience:
The Key
Differentiator
By Ola Babs-Olugbemi
W
hat makes a bank the customers’ preference in an
industry where the products and services offered
are essentially the same?
Hayler and Nichols in their book, Six Sigma for Financial
Services claimed that banks that take a more holistic view
of the customer and provide a consistent customer experi-
ence across channels have a great competitive advan-
tage over others. As true as this might be, the focus on
the customer makes it restrictive, in my opinion. To be truly
different in a competitive market, the focus should rather
be on the consumer. So, is there any difference between a
consumer and a customer?
The Customer is a person or organization that buys
something from a business. The Consumer is a person that
buys and uses goods or services. It is common for banks
to classify consumers as customers and place value on
them by the volume of transactions they do. Bankers have
given express attention to segments with huge potentials
for income, regular transactions or the so called “big-ticket
transactions.” Howbeit, behind every transaction be it in
the corporate or commercial play is a consumer - the end
user who uses the services directly or who is impacted by it.
Consumer-centric approach to banking is about taking
consumer insights and ensuring that the brand act on
them, and deliver products and services to focus on those
insights. In line with this, having a consumer approach to
banking service will create enduring experiences for all
the stakeholders. Believing, there is someone with feelings
waiting at the end of every process will increase the
efficiency and effectiveness of our product and service
delivery. Organizations that adopt consumerism in their
processes tend to create world-class customer experienc-
es. There is the tendency to be more effective and efficient
in delivering value across the business if consumer thinking
is behind our actions.
How do we as a bank enhance our consumer experi-
ence? It is by making the consumer the essence of our
products, processes and service delivery through value
oriented chain of activities. A consumer thinking approach
for products, processes, brand, control and people will
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