Hasrath Munasinghe
Deputy General Manager
Retail Banking and Marketing

Q: Amid economic challenges and changing market dynamics, how should organisations mitigate high costs while delivering value to customers?

A: It is important to prioritise strategic investments in customer-centric digitisation and automation. It’s crucial to focus on solutions that enhance customer excellence and deliver tangible benefits, rather than adopting technology for technology’s sake.

Today, customers expect superior experiences and cost-effective solutions. As a bank, our goal should be to innovate and reduce costs while providing meaningful value, not merely standard services. Customers are willing to pay for true value, therefore it’s essential to focus on what matters most to them.

Additionally, building strong partnerships can drive innovation, enabling us to develop unique products and offerings that meet evolving customer needs. Collaboration can be a powerful tool to enhance our value proposition and differentiate us in a competitive market.

Q: The need to provide holistic customer experiences is rapidly gaining importance. What is your interpretation of this? 

A: Holistic customer experiences are crucial in today’s landscape as it ensures that every interaction is consistent and aligned with customer expectations. Understanding and mapping customer journeys are at the core of this, allowing us to deliver seamless experiences across all channels, services and products, ensuring that customers feel understood and valued.

In an era where personalisation is key, customers look for tailored interactions at every touch point. A holistic approach to engagement – covering digital, physical, ATL (above the line), BTL (below the line), voice and video – creates a seamless experience with interoperability between each interaction becoming more vital.

And most importantly, while customers may forget specific actions, they will always remember how we made them feel. Creating positive, memorable experiences is essential for building lasting customer loyalty and success.

Q: Why should customer excellence always be a priority?

A: Customer excellence should always be a priority as the customer is the cornerstone of our business model and achieving excellence in all aspects of the customer experience is no longer optional – it’s essential for our existence especially as a service organisation. We must also prioritise customer excellence to build loyalty and trust, which is crucial for sustaining the bank’s reputation and market position.

The hunger for customer excellence drives continuous improvement, and ensures we stay ahead by adapting to changing customer behaviours and expectations. A customer excellence driven culture doesn’t stop at excellence – it evolves into customer advocacy.

This can only be achieved when customer excellence is embedded as a core priority across the bank, shaping staff behaviour and processes.

Q: What is your organisation’s approach to customer excellence?

A: Commercial Bank’s approach is deeply integrated into our vision and mission, making it a core part of our strategy. We prioritise employee empowerment and recognition, ensuring our staff is equipped with the training and tools necessary to make customer-centric decisions.

We actively integrate customer feedback to continuously improve our services and products, ensuring we set customer-centric SLAs (service level agreements) tailored to different and ever evolving customer needs.

Customer excellence has been a foundational element of Commercial Bank and this year, we have reignited our passion for delivering excellence to better align with global customer expectations.

Q: How does your organisation harness the power of data and analytics to elevate customer experiences?

A: At Commercial Bank, we focus on impactful, quality data that creates real value for customers, rather than the sheer quantity of data. Quality data enables predictive models that anticipate customer needs, allowing us to proactively offer hyper-personalised financial solutions.

As we move forward, data will be the most critical factor in achieving customer excellence. The manner in which data is organised and its relevance are key to driving improvements in customer experience. With the right data on the right platforms, we can analyse customer behaviour, refine service approaches and design more intuitive user interfaces.

Additionally, in line with new data protection laws, we prioritise the security of customer data, ensuring all processes meet strict standards to protect customer information.

Q: What are your organisation’s future plans?

A: Commercial Bank’s plans are centred on catering to different customer segments by implementing tailored service strategies that address unique needs and preferences, rather than using a one-size-fits-all model.

Our customer segmentation approach focusses on the specific needs of individual, corporate and SME clients, and geographical distinctions, enabling us to offer financial solutions that add value at every interaction.

We will also prioritise digital first solutions for tech savvy customers while continuing to provide personalised support for those who prefer traditional channels. Our aim is to create flexible service options that accommodate diverse customer lifestyles and demands, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility.

To enhance efficiency, we plan to streamline service delivery processes, minimising wait times, simplifying procedures and removing unnecessary steps. Our first time resolution (FTR) initiative will focus on providing prompt and effective solutions across all channels, including branches, contact centres, relationship managers and digital platforms.

We will continuously analyse customer feedback and behaviour to refine segment specific strategies, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty. By leveraging staff expertise, we will maintain our position as a leader in the service sector, consistently delivering exceptional customer experiences.

Telephone 2486000  |  Email info@combank.net  |  Website www.combank.lk