By PETER EGWUATU
Banks in Nigeria are not giving adequate attention to customer satisfaction, saysa  report by  SMART Advisory.

Reviewing the report,  Managing Director/CEO, SMART Advisory, Mr. Demola Adeyinka, said, “Retail banking is a customer and loyalty-driven business. The power of customer loyalty is clear and compelling. It leads to more profitable growth. Loyal customers are more likely to stay longer with banks that treat them well.

Customer perception however, is typically driven by a variety of factors which include cultural differences, status,and education to mention a few.”

It should be noted that customer satisfaction therefore, remains a crucial success factor for retail banks.

However, not enough attention has been devoted to customer satisfaction and loyalty in Nigeria and where attention has been devoted, impressive results have not been observed. This should be a major concern for retail bank leaders especially banks that have decided to make retail banking a strategic focus and working towards building a commanding presence in this area of banking business in Nigeria.

The SMART Advisory boss explained that with high levels of competition and pressure, it is time for banks to identify specific satisfaction drivers in their businesses and act on these findings to improve the quality of service, perception of customers and forestall customer attrition.

According to him: “To galvanize activity in this direction, retail banks need to urgently embark on efforts to address some of the infrastructural challenges being faced at the various channels and also put in place models to enhance quality feedback from customers on their assessment of their services.

Analysis of the report revealed that the adoption of banks and the utilization of their services is a growing trend which cuts across all demographics. In line with the demographic structure of Nigeria, the customer base of banks is increasingly skewed towards the high youthful population.

Top on the list of banks in terms of customer base is Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) which, according to the survey, enjoys 19% of the retail banking customers in Nigeria. First Bank and Oceanic Bank followed closely behind at 11% respectively.

28% of the customers consider GTBank to be the best service provider among all other banks. While First Bank was rated at 13%, Oceanic Bank followed closely at 9%. This to a large extent informed the high rate of recommendation by customers of GTBank to others.

The report stated that, “Although the industry figure shows an average regular recommendation of 51% and 13% for customers who are not adequately pleased with their banks and so would not recommend them to others. 66% of customers of Standard Chartered Bank recommend the bank very often as well, while Zenith and Diamond Banks enjoy 57% and 55% regular recommendation respectively.