Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
The famed XXX star Sharon Mitchell arrived at a New York bank one day and realised that she had forgotten to bring sufficient ID to cash a cheque.
She had, however, brought along a magazine in which she featured rather prominently.
Without hesitation, she handed the glossy spread to the teller, lifted her sweater and struck a pose.
The check was promptly cashed. So much for 'customer care' in New York!
True the scenario cannot be transplanted to the GCC. Nevertheless, it should be said that customers in the GCC countries do not always get a fair deal from banks in the region.
Despite record profits this year, the GCC's banking sector is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue due to a lack of focus on customer care, claims global management consultant A T Kearney.
Whilst GCC-based banks have been growing both assets and profits at double-digit rates recently, the gap between the quality of their customer service and customer expectations still leaves much to be desired.
Challenges such as too few skilled resources, lack of product transparency, limited responsiveness and follow up on customer requests, as well as poor multi-channel offerings, especially online and with phone banking, are resulting in customers who are more likely to move banks.
A survey in Dubai found that half of all UAE nationals consider their customer service experience neutral or negative. For Western expats that figure was 90 per cent or higher.
This compares with the US market where only 24 per cent of consumers are negative or neutral about customer service, and 76 per cent are satisfied.
"GCC banking executives would do well to remember that a happy customer increases a bank's profit," says A T Kearney Middle East managing director Dr Dirk Buchta.
"Banks in America generate an additional $1 billion in deposits if they can make just five per cent of their customers highly satisfied.
"These clients make larger deposits and recommend the bank and its services to friends and family. A T Kearney has found that a five per cent increase in customer retention increases product profitability by 20 per cent to 80 per cent."
He suggests that with increasing retail competition across the GCC, most notably in Saudi Arabia where a number of banks such as Inma Bank, BankMuscat and the National Bank of Bahrain have or are being granted retail licences by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, customer service will become an ever more important differentiator in the GCC market.
"Satisfaction in the branch, on the phone and online can and does have a direct impact on revenues," said A T Kearney financial institutions group manager Dr Alexander von Pock.
"Put it this way, a midsized GCC bank with world-class customer service could increase profits anywhere from $50 million to $150 million a year."
To increase customer service and profitability, GCC banks should look to proven, pioneering customer services practices that match their marketing promises with practical action, the report argues.
The old adage that 'you get what you pay for' applies to banking as with most other service industries. Sure, the level of bank charges one pays is an important factor, but a major factor is also the level of customer care and personal service your bank provides.
All major banks promote their ability to look after the client, but does the bank pass the acid test? Switching banks to save on banking charges may be short-term thinking if the new bank doesn't provide the level of personal service one's business demands.
Another adage is that "it takes two to tango" - one should not underplay one's own role in one's relationship with the bank. One's relationship with the bank, like one's relationship with one's accountant and other professional advisers, should be like a partnership. Know what one wants and one has a better chance of getting it.
