[ Introduction ]
It wasn't by chance that, when we published our Mission Statement 10 years ago, the very first item it contained was a commitment to "offer our customers consistent high quality and good value services". This, after all, has been a fundamental aim of the Co-operative Movement since its founding fathers, the Rochdale Pioneers, first set up shop in 1844, with the promise to supply working people with "wholesome food at reasonable prices".

An unswerving commitment to customer satisfaction is, then, part of the bank's birthright; and, in today's increasingly competitive environment, it's more important than ever to our continued success. In this section, we report on our performance in this crucial area.

[ Determining customers' priorities ]
In recent years, our commitment to satisfying our customers' needs and wishes has resulted in many attempts by the bank to assess our performance in this area. However, perhaps the most exhaustive independent piece of research in the financial services market is MORI's Financial Services Survey, which measures customer satisfaction in a number of areas amongst personal current account customers on a six monthly basis. Therefore, we will follow MORI's lead and report on our performance in this area for both corporate and personal customers. We will also report on our performance in the areas of 'Convenience of Service' and 'Involvement in Product Development' as these, along with 'Overall Satisfaction with Service' were identified by our customers (corporate and personal) as being amongst the issues of most importance to them in both focus group work conducted by Moseley Consulting Ltd and in our recent Partnership Ballot. Conducted in May 1997, the Partnership Ballot involved sending every one of our then 1.2 million customers, a copy of our Partnership Report, 'Strength in Numbers', and a feedback form. Over the following eight weeks some 98,000 (8%) completed and returned the questionnaire.

[ Measuring performance ]
For personal customers, it is our intention to report on data from two sources: MORI's Financial Services Survey and our Partnership Ballot. The MORI survey, which covers the second half of 1997, not only provides independent data on the performance of the bank, but also compares us to other banks. However, MORI do not address questions such as 'Convenience' and 'Customer Involvement in Product Development', so it is also necessary for us to draw on the Partnership Ballot (it should be noted that this has been reviewed by our external auditor, ethics etc...).

For corporate customers, use of the Partnership Ballot is inappropriate; in numeric terms the response of personal customers far outweighed those of corporate customers. Therefore, to ascertain more accurately how well we perform with corporate customers it is necessary for us to report on internal research that has been reviewed by our external auditor, ethics etc... We have focused our corporate customer reporting on Business Direct customers only. They constitute the fastest growing base of our Corporate portfolio; accounting for 13.8% of all corporate customers, and with year on year growth of over 200% in 1997. The particular piece of research referred to in this report was undertaken in early 1997 and involved self-completion questionnaires distributed to 2,500 Business Direct customers, 36% of whom responded. Unfortunately, there are no independent surveys available in the corporate sector to match that of MORI and which include The Co-operative Bank as a substantial sample.
 
1a) Level of satisfaction

[ Existing commitment ]
The bank's Mission Statement commits us to "offer all our customers consistent high quality and good value services and strive for excellence in all that we do".

[ Performance & comment - Business Direct customers ]
Research commissioned by the bank with Business Direct customers shows that virtually all are satisfied with the service provided. So much so that a massive 94% would recommend the bank to a business colleague. The main reasons given for this satisfaction referred to the "efficient, problem-free service", which was mentioned by a third; a further 11% spontaneously said the service was "reasonably priced and cost effective". Our unique Customer Service Guarantees underline our commitment to excellence in this area. Should we fail to live up to any one of five guarantees, we apologise, put things right and credit the customer's account with £20. However, this does not mean that we are complacent, with 3% of customers unhappy with the service provided there is room for improvement.

[ Performance & comment - personal current account customers ]
The Partnership Ballot found that virtually all personal customers consider that the bank provides a good quality service, with almost half ranking us as very good in this regard. Our unique Customer Service Guarantees underline our commitment to excellence in this area; if we make a mistake in anything from opening an account through to setting up standing orders and direct debits, then we promise not only to say sorry and put it right but also to pay the customer £10 for the inconvenience.

However, whilst most companies would be delighted with our excellent level of performance, with 4% saying we are 'quite poor' and 1% 'very poor', we still believe we have improvements to strive for.

[ By comparison ]
MORI found that in the second half of 1997, 93% of our current account customers were satisfied with the bank, and 67% were very satisfied. Our net satisfaction score (this measures the % of customers who say they are satisfied minus those who say they are dissatisfied) is in line with the industry average, whereas the 'very satisfied' score is some 15% points ahead of the average.

[ Future objective ]
We will strive to maintain our excellent level of service.

SHEILA MACDONALD Head of Personal Customer Services

COLIN EVANS Head of Business Customer Services

1b) Convenience

[ Existing commitment ]
Last year in our Partnership Report, we reiterated our commitment to 'anytime, anywhere' banking.

[ Performance ]
The Partnership Ballot found that the vast majority of customers consider that the bank offers a convenient service.

[ Comment ]
Our service is rated as being convenient by most of our customers, however our relatively low number of personal branches has in the past led to some dissatisfaction with the convenience of banking with us. We believe that we have now gone some way to resolving this concern by negotiating a deal, in November 1997, whereby our personal customers in England and Wales can use their local post office to cash cheques and make deposits.

However, over the same period we closed seven of our personal branches where there was no longer sufficient customer demand. The two initiatives, one which opens up new service delivery channels nationwide, and one which closes a number of local service delivery channels, are actually two sides of the same coin. The bank has only a fixed amount of resources at its disposal and must deploy these responsibly and as circumstances allow. Since 1977 our corporate customers have been able, by special arrangement, to use more than 19,000 Girobank facilities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

[ Future objective ]
To continue to improve the convenience to customers banking with us, by providing an effective and quality service, whether through existing or new delivery channels.

MICK FIRTH Executive Director, Personal Banking

MICHAEL WOODWARD Executive Director, Corporate and Commercial Banking
 

1c) Participation

[ Existing commitment ]
The bank's Mission Statement, commits us to "introduce and promote the concept of full participation by welcoming the views and concerns of our customers". Furthermore, our Ethical Policy stipulates that we "will regularly reappraise customers' views on these and other issues and develop our ethical stance accordingly."

[ Performance ]
Research indicates that customers wish to become more involved in product and service development. To date, the major exercise in consultation with customers has been in the area of the Ethical Policy. Strictly speaking, this does not constitute product development, however, the Ethical Policy has a major impact on the bank and all products and services so it is considered appropriate to comment on feedback in this area.

The Partnership Ballot found that the vast majority (80%) consider that the bank involves customers in product development to a sufficient degree.

[ By comparison ]
The Co-operative Bank is the only High Street bank to consult customers pro-actively on matters of policy development.

[ Comment ]
The findings of our Partnership Ballot are largely positive, but still one in five customers are expressing dissatisfaction with the degree to which they are involved with policy development. Since the launch of the Ethical Policy in 1992, the bank has been a strong advocate of customers having a say in where their money is invested. Furthermore, schemes such as 'Customers Who Care' allow customers to have a say in which organisations receive charitable support on their behalf (see the section on Society for further details). However, it would appear that a significant proportion of customers wish to have even more involvement. For this reason, in 1998, the bank will once again consult customers on the Ethical Policy and the issues it covers. It is also hoped that the ongoing development of the Partnership Approach will meet with customer approval.

[ Future objective ]
In 1998, the bank will once again consult customers on the Ethical Policy and the issues it covers.