Service Encounter Blog 2- When Banking Becomes Easy & Enjoyable
Type of service
Bank
Date and time of encounter
August 4th 2016
Name of Service
TD Bank
Encounter
On August 4th, 2016 I was going through my bank statements and I noticed an unfamiliar charge occurring monthly for the last 3 months. Since I was planning on going to the bank to withdrawal some cash later that day, I thought could speak to a teller then and sort it out in person instead of calling the customer service line. The teller properly introduced herself and politely asked me what she could do for me. I explained the unfamiliar charge on my account reoccurring 3 times, and she explained that the charges were monthly account fees banking client’s pay if they aren’t in school. She also respectfully clarified that my student account was 4 years old, and the bank was under the impression that I had completed my education, and they started charging me the monthly account fees due to this. I stated that I was still in school and explained I didn’t have anything on me to prove my student status other than my student card, which doesn’t have an expiry date on it. She asked how much longer I would be studying for, and I assured her that I would be studying for at least 6- 8 more months. She expressed that typically banking clients need to bring in a complete proof of study to get this fee waived. However, she explained that I had been a valuable and trustworthy banking customer of theirs for years so she wouldn’t mind waiving the monthly account fee for another year this time, nonetheless after that she would guaranteed that I would need to bring in proper documentation if I plan to continue studying. Not only did she do me a huge favor and waive this fee entirely on trust and being one of their valued customers but she also refunded my account for the monthly charges incurred in the last 3 months. I thanked her for doing everything she could to help me. I also thanked her for her remarkable customer service skills and for offering me a memorable banking experience with TD Bank.
Cost
The cost of the monthly charges amounted to about $35
Chapter Concepts
Chapter 3 Customer Expectations of Service (Zeithaml, 2013 p.54-58)
• The service performance I encountered was above the Zone of Tolerance level allowing me to the leave the service extremely satisfied and happy.
• The service caught my attention in a positive way because of how professional and helpful the service performance offered by the TD teller was
• The TD Bank teller went above and beyond my expectations of my personal service philosophy, and being as I have worked in the service industry for many years I have especially tough service philosophies
Chapter 4 Customer Perceptions of Service (Zeithaml, 2013 p.79)
• Satisfaction versus service quality- even though there was a time constraint on the employees due to the afternoon rush the employee still provided quality service and went above and beyond what she was suppose to in order to help me out and have me leave the service 110% satisfied
Chapter 6 Building Customer Relationships (Zeithaml, 2013 p.147-149)
• The TD teller did a great job at focusing her customer service efforts towards relationship management. Building positive relationships with your clients is important especially in banking, when focusing your customer service efforts towards relationship management like she did it makes the client feel cherished. A sense of loyalty is built through building this customer relationship ensuring the clients business/relationship for the long term
Chapter 11 Employees’ Roles in Service Delivery (Zeithaml, 2013 p.313)
• The teller exhibited service leadership. A resilient service culture begins with leaders in the organization who demonstrate a desire for service excellence. She definitely met and managed customer expectations through her professionalism, respect and much appreciated helpful attitude
• The behavior of employees in an organization will be heavily influenced by the culture of that organization or the values that shape it. The TD employee definitely carried out those values and helped define TD Bank’s Service culture to me
How would you rate your level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction and your reason for either?
On a scale from 1-7, I would rate my level of satisfaction at a 7- extremely satisfied with my encounter. The most obvious reason for my satisfaction is the professionalism and customer service skills the teller had and how she made me feel valued and trusted even if that weren’t truly the case. I also enjoyed how she respectfully and politely explained the charges without any attitude or annoyance like some other tellers I have had encounters with in the past. She also knew her job well enough to have clarified the charges to me effectively and efficiently.
Reasons for being satisfied:
• My banking experience was swift and stress-free
• She made the customer feel important and trusted
• The teller provided a courteous and unforgettable environment/offered full attention and time regardless of the line
• She also mentioned that if these charges pop up in the next year to come in and see her (gave me her schedule) to get the charges refunded
My reaction to this encounter
My first reaction to this encounter was a strong feeling of happiness of course. I had never had such a great banking experience. A culture with customer service excellence starts with consulting your employees (Micah Solomon, 2016) and its clear that this was done in TD banks employee-training seminars.
Would you return or not return
I would return to TD. On a scale from 1-7, 1- definitely not banking TD and 7- definitely banking TD. I would rate my chances of continuing to bank with TD at a 7. I will definitely continue to bank with TD based on this positive and outstanding experience. I was provided with quick and exceptional service, my questions were answered and clearly explained, I was refunded even though it was my fault for not reconfirming my studying status and I was made to feel like I was highly trusted and given a level of confidence other banking clients do not get. This made feel appreciated instead of replaceable like most large companies make us regular humans feel.
References
Micah, Solomon (September 20,2014). A culture of customer service excellence starts with consulting your employees. Retrieved from: http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fmicahsolomon%2F2014%2F09%2F20%2Fstep-1-toward-a-culture-of-customer-service-excellence-is-consulting-your-employees%2F%23506907ed6093&h=YAQGgm0FD
Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. D. (2013). Services Marketing: integrating customer focus across the firm. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
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