Samuel Dakurah, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at First National Bank Ghana, has underscored the importance of technology in modern customer experience and thus, urged businesses across the country to be intentional in providing great digital customer experiences.
The Chief Information Officer made this known during a webinar organized by CWG Ghana and DigiD, themed ‘Digital Customer Experience: A profitable Journey’, where the industry leaders discussed how to engage the digital customer.
According to Samuel Dakurah, as technology advances, it presents opportunities which several industries can leverage for growth, explore advancement and improve on customer experiences.
“Major advancements in customer service have been driven largely by advancements in technology. A key driver has been the growth and accessibility of the internet which has opened up many opportunities for both organizations and customers. Communication is now timely and efficient. Also, advancement in areas such as cloud technology has helped address challenges such as scalability, availability, and uptime or platforms. Many solutions now have a software as a service offering that organizations can quickly leverage to serve their customers. The growth in fields such as machine learning and AI have also provided new avenues for engaging with customers such as intelligent chatbots.”
Samuel Dakurah
Mr. Dakurah advised that, in the quest to satisfy the needs of the digital customer, businesses especially banks, must also ensure that they keep an eye on cyber security threats. Both customers and organizations are vulnerable now, more than ever to cyber security risks. This can potentially destroy the customer’s trust if not properly addressed.
Businesses to Continue Transitioning Towards an All-digital World
The CIO observed that as businesses continue to experience a transition towards an all-digital world, with most consumer interactions being executed digitally, organizations must adopt approaches to be able to offer a great digital customer experience, financial and digital experts.
He opined that consumers are progressively shifting their emphasis away from products and services and toward the quality of the experience they receive. Meeting these new criteria will require firms to demonstrate unflinching commitment.
Group Chief Information Officer (CIO) at I &M Bank-Kenya, Rohit Gupta in his submission stated that as businesses digitize their operations, in keeping with the times, they must also carry their employees along. He indicated that as businesses adopt technology, the staff must be technologically enabled for the skill sets needed for interacting with digital customers.
Elaborating on the change in customer behavior and how businesses must adapt, Ramesh Kannan, founder of Digid, a digital onboarding, and identity verification system, said the financial services industry and other businesses must concentrate their effort on improving services through digitization.
“In the previous 5-7 years, the internet purchasing experience has reached a mature stage. Online customers are now able to enjoy an immersive shopping experience that was previously only available in-person. Customers wanting to get financial services and products should also be provided with a comparable experience. They should be able to purchase their services from any location, at any time, and using any device.”
Rohit Gupta
Comfort Armoo, Head of Customer Experience at Fidelity Bank Ghana, also noted that all services must be relevant to the needs of the customers. She suggested that when it comes to digital services, systems must be built client-centric.
“In general, every world-class service must be reliable & responsive, empathetic, have a great ambience, and provide assurance. That being said, in order for us to proclaim a positive customer experience, service providers must make every effort to make all digital journeys and processes smooth and seamless, timely, emotionally rewarding, and successful. When all four of these critical imperatives are present, one has definitely engineered a powerful panacea for growth and customer loyalty, while improving organization’s own efficiency.”
Comfort Armoo
