Last week, I met David Sampson at a 4Networking breakfast in London. David is the Local Director of MetroBank at the Cromwell Road store in West London. We got talking about customer service and found that we had a lot in common. David started telling me about how MetroBank was differentiating itself from all the other established banks in the U.K. by focussing on customer experience, and, to be honest, I thought ‘Well, he seems like a really genuine type of guy for a banker, but don’t all banks say that?’
Not that I’m a sceptical kind of guy – well, I am when it comes to customer service in the U.K. because every company will tell you that they are focussed on pleasing their customers, but their actions belie that, and when their staff are so obviously unloved and un-appreciated it becomes obvious that they don’t really mean what I say. So I asked David if I could pop in and see him one day, at the MetroBank branch he is based at. To my surprise, he agreed readily. I’m not really a potential customer, as I live over 80 miles from London, so I was impressed. After all, as a Local Director of a bank, he must have better things to do than talk to customer service trainers who he has just met at a networking meeting! Wrong. When someone is as passionate about a business as David is, they will take every opportunity to speak to people about it. I was like that when I worked for GNER in the mid 1990’s. I’m like it whenever I talk about customer service and what it takes to create a great customer experience.
So, at 11.00 this morning, after attending the 4Networking meeting at nearby Gloucester Road (a great start to the day), I turned up at MetroBank. Automatic doors swung open and it was like walking into a hotel lobby. The acid test for me whenever I walk into a store is how long it takes for a member of staff to engage me in some way. MetroBank – right on the button. One of the staff behind the counter, which is quite a way from the door, made eye contact with me and smiled as soon as I walked through the door. This just never happens in the U.K. so I was quite unbelievably impressed. Then I saw David, not hiding in a plush office behind the scenes, but sitting at a desk in the very open plan store. He recognised me immediately, came over, shook hands and started showing me around his store, of which he is justifiably proud. There are 24 hour ATM’s in the lobby, which can be accessed by using any bank card. That’s not just a MetroBank card, that’s any bank card. My bank makes me queue in the rain to take my money out of an ATM if the bank is closed. There are customer toilets too. When did a bank in Britain ever have customer toilets?
There is a coin machine that you can put your loose coins into and change them into notes. It’s free. Not like the one in your supermarket that charges for that service. There’s also a game for the kids and adults to play to guess how much they are putting into the coin machine, and there are prizes. Not just for the kids, adults can win prizes too. Children are welcome and are given free lollies. Dogs are welcome too, and there are bowls of water for them to drink. The whole place is immaculate, and yet the atmosphere is genuinely friendly and most un-banklike.
David proudly told me that the CEO of MetroBank is very hands-on and is regularly seen around the branches. He also spends every Friday afternoon making sure that any customer complaints have been dealt with satisfactorily. That’s the top man, not the Customer Relations Manager. David told me that the staff love working at MetroBank, and this is obvious from the atmosphere in the store. Staff are rewarded for great customer service over and above achieving budgets. There is a culture of people being caught doing something right.
I noticed that the staff were having a laugh together behind the counter, but were totally focussed on who was walking through the door. A far cry from most other banks (perhaps all other banks) where the staff mostly look very professional but in fact are more interested in keeping their managers happy (by achieving their targets) than keeping their customers happy. Not their fault, that’s what bank staff have been trained to do for years.
MetroBank hires people for attitude, not skill, and spends a lot of money on training. Staff attend a thorough induction where they are given a full understanding of what’s expected of them, and there is regular follow-up training and development. David said he had worked for two other banks before he went to MetroBank and he has never been happier in his work. Oh, and the company is based on a very successful business model from the U.S. and has great plans for expansion in the London area. I wish them the very best of luck, and if I lived in London I would be beating a path to their door very quickly.
Thank you David Sampson and MetroBank for restoring my faith in the banking industry!