From rethinking onboarding to unifying global customer voice, HSBC’s CX strategy shows how empathy, data and design can work together to build loyalty.
In banking, trust and efficiency define loyalty, but for Gail Russell, Global Head of Customer Channels & Commercialisation at HSBC International Wealth & Premier Banking, customer experience is about much more than transactions.
And In customer experience, measurement frameworks can make or break transformation. “Our single biggest ROI inflection came when we moved from a patchwork of different customer surveys and moved our markets onto one global platform. This has enabled us to truly create a voice of customer platform, to look for consistent customer insights across multiple markets and manage feedback in close to real time, to fix issues for example,” she adds.
Gail Russell emphasises that customer experience in banking is most vulnerable at the start of the relationship—the first 48 hours of onboarding. HSBC is futureproofing this moment by combining trusted brand equity with seamless digital journeys. She also reveals how embedding empathy into HSBC’s global CARE behaviours has scaled CX transformation across 36,000 employees.
Excerpts from the interview:
Which part of the customer journey do you see as most vulnerable to disruption right now and how are you futureproofing it?
One of the most fragile links is the first 48 hours when a customer opens and funds an account and decides whether the bank will be their primary provider. We always need to couple our trusted brand with world-class onboarding, ensuring ease of first deposit and customer engagement at this critical point.
How do you get frontline teams to act on customer insights not just collect them?
In my experience, the trick is to make the insight impossible to ignore. Across some locations, HSBC has introduced an improved closed loop feedback system with deeper feedback, and enhanced process to improve the time between hearing it and acting on it. When executed well, we can track improvements in a timely manner, which means teams can truly see the impact of their actions. A great motivator to drive ongoing action!
What’s a mistake banks often make when trying to personalise experiences at scale? Some programmes still rely on static demographic data. This can lead to irrelevant nudges and lack of engagement or conversion. For example, a 35-year-old first time saver and 35-year-old business founder may get the same nudge about an investment product; in reality, they have very different needs, so require more nuanced messages to encourage a positive engagement. Add siloed channels into the mix and – without the right approach – customers might be served conflicting offers via multiple channels (mobile app, branch staff etc) resulting in a fractured customer experience.
HSBC’s renewed CX model emphasises empathy and active listening as core pillars. How do you ensure that local teams internalise empathy in product design and service execution?
We hard-wired empathy into our CX model by embedding our CARE behaviours (Connected, Accountable, Responsive, Empathetic) into every service moment and journey. Co-creating and learning from pilot programmes in local market, we built a bespoke curriculum and scalable training program for contact centre and branch colleagues globally. It now covers more than 36,000 individuals from Mexico to Hong Kong.
What’s one decision you made that clearly shifted the ROI of HSBC’s CX program? Our single biggest ROI inflection came when we moved from a patchwork of different customer surveys and moved our markets onto one global platform. This has enabled us to truly create a voice of customer platform, to look for consistent customer insights across multiple markets and manage feedback in close to real time, to fix issues for example.
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