How Much Is an Excellent Customer Experience Worth?

“Want to develop the ultimate customer experience for one of Germany’s biggest banks?”

This probing question greeted me when I checked my email a few days ago. For an agency like Edenspiekermann, it was certainly an interesting proposition.

Almost immediately, however, my excitement was replaced by irritation and disappointment as I realized that the email was sent from a creative crowdsourcing platform. This was a contest, and the prize for the winning contribution was a mere €7,500.

As much as I like the idea of using crowdsourcing to tap into a vast pool of creative potential, I have to wonder how this bank’s management came to place such a low value on something as vital as customer experience.

We all know that banks are in trouble. The private banking sector in particular is threatened by new FinTech companies that deliver a more modern and friendly customer service experience. That’s why most banks invest millions in R&D, collaborating with customers and experts to redesign the banking experience.

And not just the digital experience, but the interior of the bank itself, as well as communication strategies, processes and customer service. At Edenspiekermann, we have had several dialogues about these challenges with banks in both Germany and the Netherlands.

I don’t understand how a big bank could hope to develop “the ultimate customer experience” simply by throwing an open pitch onto a crowd sourcing platform. From my point of view, the customer experience should nowadays be at the core of the corporate strategy of all established banks. Surely it takes more than a few freelance creatives to design “the ultimate customer experience.”

So thanks, but no thanks. Edenspiekermann will have to kindly decline the invitation.