The funny and interesting part about talking with customers is that the underlying concepts don’t change dramatically over time. The word service is still defined in the eye of the beholder. The only thing that might change is that new innovations are provided to that service. Being customer centric is about thinking through the entire experience of using a product of service. For example, if you visit Disney, would you have thought that parking your car should be a part of the magical experience? Yes, it is. It’s all part of the end-to-end journey and it’s not just going on the rides.

One of the companies that has considered this scenario and that you probably don’t expect is TD (Toronto Dominion) Bank – America’s most convenient bank. This company already provides services to its customers for more than 150 years and you can even bring your dog with you while you are doing your bank transactions. Also, its mission statement mentioned that TD bank will be the best run and totally customer-focused. But, how does this exactly work and what’s in it for the customer?  

In my opinion, every company claims to be a customer-centric organization. So, what makes TD Bank different? Theresa McLaughlin works for marketing department of TD Bank and mentions that TD Bank really lives the customer-centric focus day in and day out. For more than 10 years in a row, TD Bank has been ranked first in overall customers satisfaction on J.D. Power’s annual Canadian Retail Banking Satisfaction study (marketingmag.com,2017). A big part of their competitive advantages leads to joint profitability and seems to be very simple; TD Bank listens to its customers across all channels and has been responsive to every customer feedback.  An institutional arrangement seems to appear as all employees spend a lot of time on the customer journey to create an emotional connection with the customers. They know that this is really important as it results in happy and loyal customers.

Another strenght of TD Bank is that they are committed to understand and connecting to what matters most in the community where they work and live. TD Bank takes it institutional environment very serious as it helps to foster positive and lasting change in the society through local community support, investments and volunteer services. In 2015, $62.9 million was provided to non-profit organizations, 1,002 green project has been started and 1 in 3 kids has been reached through TD-sponsored children’s literacy programs in Canada. (TD Bank, 2015)

Last, TD Bank says thank to you…. and means it! Other institutional arrangements come in when we take a look at TD Banks’ annual customer appreciation event(s) which they organize every year. For example, they organizes their own ‘Customer Appreciation Days’ on which they give free coffee and cake to every customer.  In addition, three years ago, the ATMS were turned into automated thanking machines and then the magic happened; TD  Bank took the effort to give personalized gifts to its customers.

We can conclude that TD Bank is a customer centric driven company. The company takes it responsibility, takes care and listen to their customers. This results in a situation where both firm and customers are better off.

Sources:

Harris, R. (2015) TD BANK’S WINNING APPROACH TO CUSTOMER SERVICE (Q&A) [online]. Available at: http://www.marketingmag.ca/consumer/td-banks-winning-approach-to-customer-service-qa-154642. [ Accessed 8 Mar. 2017]

TD Bank, (2015). Corporate Responsibility Report. [online] TD Bank. Available at: https://www.td.com/document/PDF/corporateresponsibility/2015-Final-CRR_EN.pdf [Accessed 8 Mar. 2017].