Annual Financial Statements 2011 of Bank Austria

Management Report
Management Report (CONTINUED)
Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is a component of the bank’s mission
statement and therefore one of its objectives as well as an integral
part of our business model. This is based on the belief that
we can only be economically successful if we meet our customers’
needs, if we maintain relations with our customers on the
basis of mutual trust, and if the quality of our products and services
is attuned to the demands of our customers. We identify
the preferences and opinions of our customers in a number of
different ways, from dialogue with customers to measurements
and statistical comparisons, to subsequently align our day-to-day
business with customers accordingly from the feedback we
receive.
� Information on general customer satisfaction was obtained
through more than 43,000 customer interviews conducted by a
market research institute. The feedback was evaluated at different
levels (branches, regions, customer groups, divisions, the
bank as a whole), which included a comparison with the banking
sector and within UniCredit Group to enable the bank to respond
to the results with a package of measures. In 2011 TRIM, the
aggregated customer satisfaction index, improved by 4 points to
69 in Family & SME and by 2 points to 75 in CIB, while remaining
stable at 69 in Private Banking. Bank Austria thereby clearly
outperformed the market in several customer segments, underlining
the quality and competence of our relationship managers
and customer advisers in all business segments, our service orientation
and commitment, and the rising frequency of advisory
services.
� The customer surveys are complemented by regular mystery
shopping in the sales units with instant feedback given to
branches and employees. In 2011, we conducted 1,757 tests of
service quality. Bank Austria achieved an above-average performance
in the subsequent benchmarking.
� “Feedback Kundenerlebnis” (customer experience feedback):
immediately after an advisory talk with a customer, such
as an annual review, we send the customer a short electronic
questionnaire for the purpose of evaluating the talk. Almost
60,000 e-mails inviting feedback on advisory-related situations
were sent out. The response rate of close to 50% shows that
customers feel it is important to express their opinions and contribute
to the future development of Bank Austria. Feedback
received from customers indicates a high level of satisfaction
with the quality of advisory talks.
Best service provider: In 2011, Bank Austria was elected from
among renowned Austrian companies as the “Most customer-
oriented service provider in Austria”. The competition was based
on a survey of customer perception and on the overall evaluation
(by way of an audit) of the company’s and management’s customer
orientation. The competition was organised by the University of
St. Gallen in cooperation with Service Rating GmbH and “Die
Presse”, an Austrian daily newspaper.
Customer dialogue in 2011: In each of the thirteen Austrian
regions, a dialogue between customers, their relationship managers
and the bank’s regional managers was organised in May/June
2011 to find out what customers expect of Bank Austria. At these
constructive meetings with over 500 participants, the discussion
focused on positive aspects and areas where there is a need for
improvement. The objective is to further enhance Bank Austria’s
customer centricity.
Quality of services: We have defined standards of service and
advice for various customer interactions (service, advice, telephone,
complaints) to further improve quality. “Der 6. Sinn” (the Sixth
Sense) is an initiative by which we established these standards of
service and advice to make contacts with Bank Austria a pleasant
experience for customers. The programme covered 5,000 employees
in the F&SME Division in Austria, further sharpening their Sixth
Sense, the “Bank Austria Kundensinn”. Finding the right words and
acting in the right way at the right time is essential in providing
services and advice to customers. With the “Bank Austria Kundensinn”
we aim to show how we define the “best bank for customers
in Austria” and make this visible for our customers. A web
2.0 platform was used for the introduction of this initiative and
training programmes: the focus was on virtual sharing of experience,
in real time – discussing, training and learning from each
other. Moreover, 5 workshops on “Advisory Excellence and Top Service”
took place with teams at all branches throughout Austria, and
more than 20,000 electronic FitnessChecks and over 4,000 best
practice tips on service and advisory excellence were formulated.
96 branches in Austria, which met their customer satisfaction
objectives in 2011, successfully took part in the programme and
received awards as ToP SErvICE branches.
Comprehensive education programme: Topics related to customer
satisfaction are discussed in seminars for new entrants and
managers as well as in regional workshops. Service quality at the
branches is given particular attention in this context.
In the area of complaints management we gave customers access
to all our communications channels (e-mail, website, around-theclock
service line, branches, ombudsperson) and we improved the
Bank Austria · Annual Financial Statements 2011
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