CAVMONT BANK: Cavmont’s Customer Service to the Core

On Monday October 1, international customer service week kicked off. Started in 1984 in the US by the International Customer Service Association (ICSA), the week-long celebration takes place annually during the first full week in October when customer-oriented organisations and institutions around the world recognise the importance of customer service excellence to their success.

In Zambia, one organisation that fully embraced customer service week was Cavmont Bank. The commercial bank with a national presence, owned by Capricorn Investment Holdings and listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE), announced that it was ready to do more to ensure its clients receive excellence every time they connect with the bank.

Back in July 2017, Enterprise Africa spoke to Cavmont Bank and former-CEO, Charles Carey about how the company was building on its already quality reputation. He said that by investing in new people, new infrastructure, and new services the company would grow to deliver the same level of service that would expect to receive when walking into a bank branch anywhere in the world.

Today, that focus on customer service remains, and Cavmont Bank continues to invest time, effort and money into ensuring its customers receive all the help and support they need so that they can become promoters for the brand.

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS KEY

Ackim Thole, Branch Administrator at Cavmont’s Makumbi Branch recently shared his idea of service excellence: “For me, excellence means meeting the customer’s expectation more efficiently and effectively. My customers should expect from me the best service, meeting their expectations in a timely manner.”

Ingrid Mwansa, Cavmont’s Customer Service Manager reiterated the importance of the company’s customer service strategy: “Sometimes people think that customer service seems to be an easy thing and people sometimes look down on it. They find that people working in the corridors of power think that what a customer service advisor does is not that important. But I do believe that the most important people in any organisation are the front-line colleagues.

“They are the first touch point for any customer and their interaction determines whether the customer will turn into a loyal customer and become an advocate, talking about us positively to other potential customers, and improving my profitability.

“Any serious business owner, and any serious organisation, must invest in customer service. If you want your business to grow you must invest in customer service and you must invest in your people. You must have a strategy from the top to bottom where everyone is customer-oriented. Everybody in the organisation must know about the product you are selling.

“At Cavmont, we train our agents to take accountability for their clients and then to recognise issues that can be solved very quickly. If any issue cannot be solved, we must explain to the customer the problem and ensure the enquiry is passed to someone who can deal with it. Just passing to someone else with the hope that they will be able to deal with it is not acceptable.”

This approached was recognised in 2106 and 2017 when the company claimed two Global Banking and Finance Review Magazine awards for Best Retail Bank in Zambia and Best Customer Service Bank in Zambia.

Last year, the company was underway with a strategy to open six new branches to ensure its reach was felt in all corners of the country, whether high-street Lusaka or in rural southern and eastern regions.

NEW PRODUCTS

Quality customer service has also been shining through as the bank has listened to its community and introduced new products including unsecured personal loans with a higher value than ever before, and a special mobile banking system, Touch and Go (TAG), that allows Cavmont customers to pay bills, transfer money and check a balance.

“At Cavmont Bank, you can now borrow up to K150,000 unsecured, no more K50,000 limit. We have increased our limits and that means, as long as you bank with Cavmont Bank and you have steady income to your account every month, you can apply for up to K150,000. Of course, there are terms and conditions. It doesn’t mean you have to borrow the whole K150,000, you can borrow somewhere in between. All you have to do is visit one of our branches or call us,” said Head Communications and Customer Service, Chilunga Puta.

All of these strategies are aimed at bringing quality products, that have been well-researched and perfectly designed for the Zambian market, to a wider audience and continuing to grow the reach of the bank.

And now is an important period for any Zambian company pushing for meaningful growth. The government is looking to diversify the economy and move away from reliance on copper mining and include more agriculture, tourism and mining of other minerals.

“Our main objective is to sell the country as the best investment destination,” Zambia’s Secretary to the Treasury in the Ministry of Finance, Fredson Yamba told African Law & Business. “We strongly believe that there are a lot of opportunities, especially in mines and also in agriculture and tourism, where potentially people can invest and get a return on their investment.

“We don’t want to just rely on mining as a major source of economic activities,” he added. “We are aware in Zambia that we rely too much on copper as a source of foreign exchange earnings, because currently 70% of our foreign exchange is derived from copper mining activities and 30% comes from non-copper activities.”

With a strong financial industry, which includes banking, pension and insurance, and a stock exchange which is one of the continent’s most prominent, financial services is an industry that could certainly add to the country’s economic mix, creating jobs and driving value for all Zambians.

And with the backing of the USA, which in September announced formal backing for the Zambian economy, now is a perfect time for those that can grow to push forward and make a real difference.

By focussing on its customers and by creating more jobs, Cavmont Bank is a Zambian business that will continue to grow and will attract investment.

“Investment in customer service really is crucial. The returns are very big but the losses are even bigger and we do not want to a part of that,” said Mwansa.