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By M. Isi Eromosele
As today’s financial services organizations strive to retain
existing customers and attract new ones, many are introducing new enhanced
products and services over the Web.
For such offerings to be successful, companies must
structure new applications to provide optimal performance and service, while
closely managing the total cost of ownership (TCO ).
To do so, many financial services organizations need to
implement the practice of service-level management (SLM), a set of management
activities that helps companies ensure that online customers receive the best
possible experience through e-business applications that perform consistently
and outstandingly, while managing critical cost structures.
As they implement the above, financial services companies
must strive for the following:
- Protect
revenue streams and retain existing customers through Web applications
that perform exceptionally every time
- Attract
new customers and grow revenue with enhanced performance for innovative, value-added
online services, prioritizing those offerings and clients for optimal
customer service
- Take advantage of an outsourced service delivery model to prioritize issues that impact the end user, resulting in effective management of operational costs and an increase in shareholder value and the overall bottom line
Centering Operations Around Customer Needs
Financial services companies are expected not only to retain
existing customers in order to maintain steady revenue streams, but also to up-sell
new services to existing customers and compete vigorously to attract new, high-worth
clients away from the competition to grow revenue. Many firms do so by
introducing new value-added products and services.
At the same time as financial institutions are offering
these new services, they face strong pressures to boost shareholder value and
the overall bottom line through the aggressive management of operational costs.
Adding new products and services can require substantial
capital investment. Will offering premier online research or new account
services succeed in the face of cost-cut-ting initiatives?
Not only is it paramount to structure new applications
optimally to provide the right tools and services at the right place and the
right time, it is also equally critical to do so without incurring exorbitant
infrastructure or staff costs.
Even more importantly, it is critical to ensure that all of
this is accomplished while delivering the best possible performance for new and
existing Web applications.
Doing so means embracing fresh business models that not only
emphasize operational efficiency to yield real, sustainable value, but also
perform one critical function: centering the organization around customer needs.
This approach requires focusing on the end-user experience
and streamlining underlying operations processes to maximize end-user impact, all
while managing TCO . In doing so, financial services organizations can maintain
existing customers and revenue streams while unlocking untapped profit
potential from new and current customers.
At the heart of this customer-oriented approach is the
concept of customer satisfaction via excellent e-business application
performance. Consistently high levels of customer satisfaction are critical to protecting
an existing customer base from the ever-present competition as well as luring
potential new customers away from that same competition.
Foundation For Customer Satisfaction
The concept of customer satisfaction is, by definition, somewhat
intangible and therefore difficult to measure. How does a firm know exactly how
happy its customers really are? How does it go about increasing their
satisfaction? How does it measure its success or failure in pleasing customers?
The above questions can be answered through the
implementation of SLM - Service Level Management activities. SLM can be defined
as a set of management activities designed to ensure that e-business applications
consistently meet or exceed desired levels of customer service.
From an IT perspective, SLM includes creating, tracking and
modifying applications, delivery environments as well as supporting operational
processes to meet pre-defined service-level objectives. And from all
perspectives, SLM emphasizes the optimal management of cost structures.
In short, SLM can provide financial services organizations
with a means to ensure that online customers receive the best possible
experience through e-business applications that perform consistently and outstandingly,
while managing and maintaining critical cost structures.
And because an effective SLM strategy balances cost with
customer satisfaction, it can help financial institutions navigate the fine
line between aggressively managing cost structures and introducing new value
and customer satisfaction.
By orienting themselves around the customer with a single-minded
focus on end-user experience, financial institutions can not only protect
existing revenue streams, but can unlock great potential returns on new online
products and services from existing and new customers.
M. Isi Eromosele is
the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme
Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance
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2012 Oseme Group
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