The battle to win the customer of tomorrow

The landscape has changed dramatically. Many businesses or products have given way to new entrants. Traditionally strong brands have lost dominance and market share to new ones. From appliances to airplanes, restaurants to department stores, telephones to cars, new products that offer better value are winning the battle for consumer preference. The first and oldest airline in the Philippines and in Asia is being challenged for dominance in the domestic arena by a 15-year old airline. When I was in my early teens (which was a long time ago), William Lines and Compania Maritima dominated inter-island shipping. Today, Aboitiz Shipping preeminently sails the local seas. Some banks are older and yet Metrobank became the largest bank in the country 13 years ago when it was barely 33 years old.

Products that give better value through flexibility, convenience, reliability or connectivity have captured the attention and pocketbooks of consumers. Gone are the days when customers stick to one name, one brand. They have awakened to the realization that there are more choices, faster and better-looking products that satisfy their needs or wants. Product loyalty is shaky. The customers are making it increasingly clear — if a better product is available, they will abandon what they use and make the change. This upheaval in new products, faster service and greater connectivity has been driven by powerful improvements in technology and telecommunication.

The challenge of today is to shed product complacency and brand addiction. Businesses can no longer rely on brand equity as the be-all and end-all of their business models. Managers can no longer expect customers to buy products because of the name attached to it. Products or services have to be better, faster, more reliable, and if possible, in real-time. The best product today may no longer satisfy customers tomorrow because a competitor may have introduced an even better one. Who would have thought that so many would pay up to P800 to watch Manny Pacquiao pummel David Diaz in real-time when they could get it for free after two hours? This is the world as it is developing today. We want it fast. We want it quick. We want it real-time. It is no different in banking. Years ago, one had to wait for six to eight weeks to get a mortgage loan approval. I could recall happily telling customers that we could prioritize valued clients through a three-day auto loan processing. That was then.

Today, a PSBank customer can deposit and, more importantly, withdraw from any of our 163 branches nationwide; most banks can only serve passbook withdrawals in the original branch of the accountholder. PSBank processes mortgage loans in five days and processes 90 percent of auto loans within eight hours. Our personal loan clients can access their personal loans via cash withdrawals 24/7 through our ATMs. Our employees can secure supervisor/management decisions in minutes through an on-line decision making system that aids them in processing customer requests faster. Through the PSBank Remote Banking facility, customers can review their deposit account transactions and use its other applications from their homes or offices.

More banking services are being provided by PSBank to satisfy changing customer needs. In many instances, we had to build our own application systems to improve customer and operating processes whenever we found packaged systems inadequate. Unknown to the public, majority of our credit and processing systems were developed and built by PSBankers and Filipino service providers. Truly, we can proudly say they are Philippine-made and could stand up against the best that the world has to offer.

The growth of PSBank and its improved market share and profitability has been driven by a passion to satisfy changing customer needs. While we have long recognized the clamor of banking clients for faster processing and more convenient access, our ability to respond to these requirements was constrained by the lack of available integrated processing and database systems. We have hurdled these challenges as more powerful technology and telecommunications platforms have become available. Furthermore, we supplemented these costly systems by building a young, talented team of Filipino IT specialists who have done us proud by creating integrated applications superior to those available in the market. We also allocated more of our budgetary resources towards technology investment.

All of these helped PSBank provide the fastest consumer loan processing in the banking industry available nationwide. But while we are winning more customers, we are not stopping there. We will continue to do more, invest more and challenge what has been achieved so far by aiming for more. If five days of mortgage loan processing can be done, what else needs to be done to do it in four? If eight hours of auto loan processing is now here, can six hours of processing be far behind?

Yes, we are pleased, as our half-a-million customers get pleased. The doubling of our customer base over the last four years gave us comfort that we were winning them over. Our speed, convenience and reliability drove more and more customer purchases. Many were surprised that we could excel vis-à-vis larger banks and foreign banks as well. Our customer satisfaction levels are at its highest ever. But is this enough? The challenge for businesses is to maintain a state of continuous dissatisfaction, not just when things go wrong but more so when things look right. We must remember that the competition never sleeps and the customer will expect more than what they have today. This state of dissatisfaction will keep us focused towards continuously challenging the successes and improvements of today and aspire to do even better. At PSBank, we always keep in mind one thing: While the customer may seem satisfied today, the customer of tomorrow deserves even better.