UK banking group

The research has since been implemented straight into strategy for the year and shared across a range of stakeholder groups and senior audiences.

Background

Our client, a British banking group who are one of the UK’s largest financial services organisations, experienced a drop in satisfaction scores among a particular customer segment since launching a new service model.

Research was required to understand why satisfaction levels had decreased and identify areas in need of improvement.

The Challenge

Deep-dive analysis into customer tracking data found that satisfaction levels among a particular segment of customers was consistently lower across a range of metrics.

Further research was required to uncover the cause for this decrease in satisfaction, and identify what needed to be improved. This research would be used to develop the service model proposition and help our client better meet the needs of this segment of customers by evolving the model.

However, in order to inform the direction of the service model, our client had several key questions that needed answering.

Our approach

We conducted a 2-hour collaborative workshop via. Microsoft Teams. This allowed key stakeholders to fully engage in the research process and tell us what successful research would look like for them.

This was followed by hypothesis ideation which would inform the design of research material.
 
The next steps involved designing a topic guide in collaboration with our client. Thirty-six qualitative, in-depth interviews were conducted among business banking customers.

Our sample structure allowed us to compare satisfied and dissatisfied customers to identify gaps in service.

Those who participated came to the interviews prepared, having completed a 10 minute pre-task, detailing their most recent experience with the service at their business bank.

The outcome

As hoped for, deeper understandings of the reasons for lower satisfaction levels were uncovered, in addition to identifying clear needs for improvement.

Furthermore, Savanta’s in-house design team created a 20-minute video reel made up of clips from customers highlighting their service experience and areas in need of improvement.

Having the findings documented on video truly brought customer experiences to life. It was particularly impactful as it allowed stakeholders to hear first-hand accounts, arguably lending them a more subjective, empathetic edge for future decision making.

The research findings and recommendations have since been implemented straight into strategy for the year and shared across a range of stakeholder groups and senior audiences.