How Faran Niaz has revolutionised CX in banking, going from #23 to #1 for seven consecutive years

Faran Niaz generously shares with us, one of the most successful stories in CX: how he managed to dramatically improve customer satisfaction at a bank that was ranked 23rd out of 27 competitors.

My two passions are photography and customer experience. I have won international awards for both, and I am happy to say that my photography skills have given me a unique vision and perspective as a CX professional.

Photography and CX are both creative arts. You have the opportunity to create something that didn’t exist before. You put a smile on someone’s face, and you feel proud to have achieved something, even if it’s small. This can mean a substantial change for the customer.

When I started my career in call centre banking in 1996, customer experience (CX) was known as customer service. Over time, I took on change management roles and coordinated various channels within the banking sector, including call centres, customer service, digital transformation, and CX departments at Citibank, Mashreq, and ADIB.

The most successful project I worked on was when I was tasked with dramatically improving customer satisfaction at a bank that was ranked 23rd out of 27 competitors. Within a few years, I had brought the bank to the number one spot, a position we have held for seven consecutive years.

The road from 23rd to 1st place was not easy.

We started by listening to people close to the customers and incorporating their perspective into our actions. If you take care of people, they will take care of you. When we ran training sessions, we empowered our employees to understand the importance of customer experience.

A key element was convincing my colleagues that reviewing and improving CX is not an audit. People get defensive quickly, and I could feel their reaction everywhere. I started by engaging with them, explaining my perspective and vision, and they immediately realised that I was there to help them and our customers.I spent time with people from all departments to review their processes and identify areas for change, improvement or automation.

I also explored and understood CX best practices from competitors and other industries. I considered this important for motivating both employees and customers.

A key step was establishing a culture of employee recognition. A certificate, an article in the newsletter or public recognition all bring pride and stimulate initiative. We recognised all viable ideas, even if they were not implemented.

During the CX learning process, I used positive and negative customer experiences, but made sure to inject humour to keep learners motivated. I also tried to make them aware that customers may have different experiences in different industries and with our competitors. I even gave them examples from other banks where I had worked in the past.

Just as we recognise the beauty in photos, it’s important to recognise the beauty in the customer experience. I love CX! Someone who understands CX can develop a strategy for any industry, whether it’s banking, hospitality, telecoms or airlines.

Regardless of what you are selling, every action has the potential to bring a smile to customers’ faces and foster loyalty to your organisation.

You can create passion, stand out from the crowd and control the experience customers have with you!