Products were the first point of differentiation we addressed. Rather than continuing to push standard banking products, we decided to take a closer look at what customers really need.

What the bank was really looking for were the needs that customers didn’t even know they had. Instead of using focus groups to do this, we studied other environments around the world, like schools, libraries, hotels, restaurants and retailers – as well as other banks.

In particular, we looked at what US retailers, such as bookstore Barnes & Noble and coffee chain Starbucks have done to make a difference to customers.

Taking a lead from the retail industry, Jyske has started offering products using physical boxes in the branch, which makes the experience of browsing between different products easier for customers. Many of the boxes include barcodes that can be scanned next to a touch-screen monitor and this launches a video describing the product’s main features.

Another important initiative was the redesign of products around customer life stages. Jyske First Rental, for example, helps younger customers understand what they need when they move out of the parental home into their first flat. It combines a range of useful advice to the customer, from how to manage a budget with a personal loan to buying furniture or paying a deposit on a flat.

Personalisation is also an important element of branch banking. Every Jyske Bank customer is assigned a personal adviser, who helps them with advice on how to manage their finances. This allows branch staff to get to know their customers better and means they can provide them with more appropriate products and services.

Reinforcing the brand

Branches are an integral part of building a bank’s brand, a critical touch-point with existing and potential customers and the second key focus in the our programme. We’ve transformed the design of our 119 branches to make them feel more like a wine bar or clothes store than a conventional bank branch.

Customers are greeted by a concierge at the AskBar/reception area and are encouraged to wander around the different areas of the bank. They can pick up free coffee from the CoffeeBar, inspect products in the Market Square area, or just relax in the Oasis area.

Perhaps most radically, we really want to leave people alone in branches. Instead of an emphasis on selling, the approach is all about letting customers buy. At Jyske, we want to encourage customers to visit the branches – something that’s unlikely to happen if banks try to sell to every customer who walks in. Our Oasis area is stocked with magazines in each branch, offering customers a place to relax.

Internet banking is another important part of our strategy. Customers want a seamless and integrated experience across all the different banking channels, whether it’s call centre, branch, online or mobile. To do this, Jyske has tied in its online offering with the branch-based Jyske Differences initiative.

First, we’ve cut all sales messages from the online banking proposition. Our main goal for online banking is to provide a nice clean environment for customers to handle transactions. Ultimately, that’s what people go online for.

Second, when customers log on, they’re greeted by a picture of their personal advisor, with the adviser’s telephone number and email address. This personalises the online offering and allows customers to put specific questions or general inquiries to their banker. We don’t have centralised call centres – the same adviser deals with the customer whether they come into the branch, use the telephone or send an email.

Customers can also use the web to see the same product videos that are available in the branch.

Building the experience

Customer experience is the third and final element of the Differences programme. To achieve the desired result, widespread buy-in and participation across the bank were needed, particularly among the branch staff. To ensure our advisers don’t try to sell aggressively, they’re not required to perform to individual sales targets. It would ruin the whole strategy if we compensated individual employees on sales to our retail customers.

Getting rid of this type of compensation aligns interests so that customers are left alone in branches. We’ve also found it increases employee satisfaction. We do have branch-based targets for sales to measure performance. This helps provide the right balance between sales and a customer-centric branch banking model.

Results have been good. The net increase in customers doubled, attracting 8,000 new customers in the first six months after launch of Jyske Differences in 2006. That compares to an average rate of 4,200 customers for the six months before it was introduced. The bank is also winning business customers, for whom a similar range of life-stage products have been launched in areas like succession planning.

Customers are buying more products from the bank than before because they are beginning to see the benefits of products they previously might not have known about or understood that they needed.

Overall, the results from the initiative show the importance of integrating channels, products and customer experience together seamlessly into one coherent strategy. For Jyske, it has proved a winning formula for increasing customer acquisition.

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