Member Article

Treating customers fairly

Stuart Gray, Managing Director at Sunderland-based contact centre and e-fulfilment specialist, 2Touch, believes that while the financial services sector’s commitment to ’Treating Customers Fairly’ has merit, the concept is simply not broad enough and there are far too many contradictions.

I am often asked about the importance of Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) within the field of financial products and services. My response is that TCF does not go far enough being restricted to Financial services regulated activities, I believe it should apply to all customer service transactions.

TCF is a Financial Conduct Authority obligation and mandatory for financial institutions carrying out regulated work. It seeks to maintain that products and services match expectations and that they are fit for purpose for the customer. It ensures that firms put the wellbeing of the customer first and, in line with this, fairness at the heart of the corporate culture. The FCA deliberately don’t offer a definition of fairness. This is because fairness means different things to different people. Consumers may also have different values, experiences and expectations through which they interpret what they believe to be fair.

TCF is about treating customers fairly which is obviously something that all of us involved in customer service must ensure. While the FCA has defined a number of key areas where fairness should be considered and can be influenced by the actions of a firm, such as sales and marketing material and product design, the greatest level of focus is on the dialogue between the consumer and the service advisor. Did the service provide clear and thorough information before, during and after the sale?

While I absolutely agree that these interactions must be open, transparent and fair, what concerns me are all the other examples of customers not being treated fairly but, because of their nature, do not fall within TCF. Companies should, and must, treat customers fairly in every aspect of their dealing with them – and that is why I feel TCF is ill-conceived and of only limited merit.

For example, I go to my bank at weekends on certain occasions during the year and always arrive at the 9am opening time but they never let customers in until 9.10. I complain and say that I have been waiting outside since 9am but I know that my comments do not really register. That scenario is not covered by TCF guidelines, but how is ignoring the customer fair?

My biggest grievance, ironically, is often with contact centres. When talking with customers, especially over the phone where things can easily be misconstrued, it is important that the advisor creates empathy with the customer.

Most of the customers ringing up are in need of clear advice, yet before they even get to speak to an advisor, they face a tediously, long drawn out process. After ringing a number, to receive information and help from a company they have probably already given custom to, they go through to a nonsensical IVR script that tells them how delighted the company is that they are calling them and that they have six options to choose from followed by another gap and then a further three options to choose from. If you weren’t already frustrated enough, it’s time for ‘the’ music. You’ll probably be listening to the same song for about 15 minutes whilst you, and eighty others, are trying to get through to an operator. Customers have to suffer this form of poor customer service on a regular basis – but it is not covered by TCF.

Customers are being treated unfairly in two ways. Firstly, they are being charged for the telephone time and what is more annoying is that the company they are trying to interact with is actually gaining a proportion of the phone bill the customer is incurring. Secondly, companies are more than capable of identifying when there are long waiting times and - if they really cared about their customers – could inform them at the beginning of the call that there are 20 people ahead of them in the queue and that if they leave their telephone number they will receive a call back within half an hour. That is the fair and the right way to manage customer relationships. But how often do we see that happen?

All the customer wants is to get through to somebody but the paraphernalia they are subjected to is not TCF friendly. They may be trying to get through to put in a complaint about a product they have purchased and yet they are not being dealt with correctly. Companies are all too willing to advise us when we want to make a purchase but many are not as interested to hear from us after we have handed over our money.

Whilst TCF remains an obligation laid down by the Financial Conduct Authority that regulates FCA authorised firms conduct, we are doing a disservice to both them and the advisors who they are communicating with.

The rules should work both ways and advisors should feel supported in their decision when they tell a customer that they are not refunding them or sending a new product. As Managing Director of a large contact centre, I see TCF every day, how it is implemented and adhered to. It has always been something of a thorn in my side as it simply does not go far enough outside of the financial services sector.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by 2Touch .