People’s People need software upgrade.(Cutting-Edge Technologies for the Contact Center)(customer service representative)(Editorial)

Customer Interaction Solutions February 1, 2004 | Parry, Tim I’ve got a joke for you. How many People’s Bank customer service representatives does it take to get your wife a MasterMoney card?

I was recently lured away from banking conglomerate J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. by my hometown Bridgeport, Conn.-based bank for three reasons: I found out I had an existing account at People’s that hadn’t been touched since the Nixon Administration, Chase was socking me with many fees while People’s was running a free checking promotion, and you can’t turn a corner in Fairfield County without seeing a People’s Bank. The Bridgeport skyline, basically, is owned by People’s. Not many local banks can say that about a city anymore.

However, my perception of People’s Bank changed when we discovered that my wife couldn’t use her People’s MasterMoney card for credit or debit purchases this past holiday shopping season. In a nutshell, here’s why: go to site customer service representative

I opened our checking account on a Saturday in October 2003, and my wife was not with me. I had to bring her back to the same branch, one that wasn’t one of the three within walking distance of my house, so she could fill out a signature card and have her be on what People’s considered “my” account. We also could not have MasterMoney cards ordered for us until her signature card was received.

When we were finally able to return a few Saturdays later, she filled out the card, and we opened a savings account, figuring both accounts should be with the same bank.

Fortunately, we didn’t close our accounts with Chase. My MasterMoney card arrived on November 24, my wife’s was not included. We gave it a week, figuring her card would show up soon.

A week had passed when I went to a second branch. The CSR told me a card had been ordered for my wife, but she would go ahead and place the order again. Since I was the primary person on the account, a new card would be ordered for me, too; one I could just put away in case I ever lost one.

But again, about a week later, only a card for me was in our mailbox. This prompted a trip to a third branch, where again, a card for my wife was ordered.

“I have reviewed your account and I see that a MasterMoney card was ordered on 12/20/03 by the Brookside branch,” a CSR representative named Jose wrote on December 30. “You should be receiving that card shortly.” But that next day, there was a card in our mailbox for me and nothing for my wife. Angrily, I went to the Brookside branch, and fortunately found the same CSR who I had ordered the card from. What she discovered, from a customer service aspect, was frightening: my wife hadn’t received a card because her signature card had not been received–even though it was handed to a CSR in the first branch. Though her name had not been added to our checking account, MasterMoney cards in her name could apparently be ordered though the order wouldn’t be processed. Even stranger, though her name was not on the account, it was printed on our check order! site customer service representative

So Jose and the other CSRs had been doing their jobs, but there was no flag in the CSR software to let them know that my wife was not eligible for a card. Even worse, though orders for a card in her name were being submitted to the ATM Card Fairies, nothing was bouncing back to me, or a CSR, to let us know my wife didn’t exist as a person on the account.

The two-month hassle I went through only proved one thing: You can have the finest, friendliest customer service representatives in your banks, online and in your call centers, but if there is a glitch in your CRM software, and it goes undetected, it’s going to give off a perception that you do not hire the brightest bulbs in the banker’s lamps.

Just a year and half ago, according to a press release, People’s Bank’s innovative approach to customer service was featured in a national advertising campaign promoting IBM’s e-business solutions and expertise for the banking and financial industry. The campaign highlighted People’s dedication to creating customer value, treating customers as special and earning their trust and loyalty.

But apparently, a little taste of national fame went to their heads, and People’s did not see the need to keep improving its services. People’s communications department did not want to tell me what CRM software packages it uses, but I can guess the version it uses is outdated.

Fortunately, I don’t need canned laughter anymore when I tell my People’s joke. Because in today’s banking world, a fat cat like People’s can easily be eaten by a bigger predator. And deep down inside I hope it doesn’t mean the Bridgeport skyline will soon read Chase, Washington Mutual or Wachovia.

By Tim Parry, Associate Editor, Customer Inter@ction Solutions[R] Parry, Tim