Bank of Ireland UK Financial Services

Delivering world-class customer service training for IT support teams at Bank of Ireland UK Financial Services.

The challenge

Like many companies, Bank of Ireland found it difficult to locate a training company with the proven experience of providing soft skills training to its 120 strong IT team. When they met the management and personal development team at QA, the search was over.

The solution

QA quickly gave Bank of Ireland the confidence that they could provide a training programme which significantly improved the IT departments’ customer service. Carolyn Tiley, customer service desk manager at Bank of Ireland: “They clearly understood our requirement – and presented a well thought-out solution.”

QA’s approach was to clearly understand the full nature of the IT departments’ customer service issues before providing a solution. QA worked with Bank of Ireland to develop an on-line survey, which was deployed using the bank’s intranet. The survey ascertained people’s perceptions of the service which they received from the IT department – and clearly indicated areas where improvement or change was required. In addition, QA interviewed team members, team leaders and their managers. The gap analysis completed from both the survey and the interviews enabled the subsequent training programme to be developed from the strongest possible foundation – to directly address fifteen customer service behaviours which those surveyed wanted to see improved the most.

QA worked with the senior management team to create customer service values and vision. These values were cascaded though the provision of fifteen one-day workshops. Delegates undertook pre-course work, enabling them to begin considering and understanding the issues which would be covered on the programme. The programme itself revealed the results of the survey to the IT departments’, enabling them to understand their customers’ perceptions of their service and to understand the ‘customer service gap’ between people’s expectations and the reality of daily experience.

Each delegate’s working style was reviewed – and each person learned on how their own style could be developed, enabling them to deliver a more positive customer service experience. Practical training was provided on specific skills – such as questioning and listening skills and transactional analysis. Each delegate was asked to focus on the five behaviours most relevant to them, from the total of fifteen identified by the senior management team - making the process both individual and effective.

Learning didn’t end with the programme – each delegate went away with their own personal action plan and quarterly objectives, to keep the momentum going. Six months later the customers were re-surveyed with a significant percentage increase in customer satisfaction. Carolyn Tiley: “We are very happy with the quality of training which was delivered. We saw it as a real challenge to change the culture of such a large and varied team, but I feel that we have achieved a more customer-centric approach. We have been delighted with their contribution.”