Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

After its big buy of DB&G last October and a remodeled corporate structure, the Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited is now ready to tackle its customer-service image.

That job falls to Maya Walrond, who was hired last month as a top executive - senior vice-president of customer experience and technology innovation - with her own department to push the project.

Harvard graduate

Walrond, a Harvard MBA who also has degrees in economics and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, defines her job as deepening the "good" relationship that now exists into one defined by its "excellence".

It is also her job, she tells Sunday Business, to ensure that Scotia's products are easily distinguished from other market offerings in the same class.

The idea is to have one clear set of standards for service at all banks within the 47-branch network, including the dedicated customer contact point - to be known as the 'Scotia Way'.

The processes at the 200 ABMs are also to be examined to ensure instructions are clear and easily understood to facilitate a rerouting of customer traffic out of the crowded banks.

Scotia's planned investment in technology and human resources at its customer contact centres will follow six months of market research which will start immediately.

Walrond, who is still working on the business model, said it was too early to estimate the full cost of rolling out 'Scotia Way', but her boss, president and chief executive officer William 'Bill' Clarke has said the company would invest "as much as it takes."

"We saw it as a strategic imperative," said Walrond in an interview at her office at the Scotiabank Centre, Kingston, BNS's corporate headquarters.

"We feel it is strategic to raise the bar, so creating the post is one of the first steps," she said, referring to her job.

The concept of the enhanced customer experience has been in the company's plans for some time, but the 'how' was advanced at the last annual strategic planning session.

"I'd like to begin with the customers, so one of the things we are going to do right up front is some intensive customer insight work and some research to understand what those pain points are in the eyes of our customers," said the new executive.

"We have perceptions on what those may be, but we want to get what the priorities are from our customers."

Formulate measures

Walrond's role is now to formulate and put in place measurements of the standards based on the feedback from customers on their concerns and experiences.

She said by the end of the year, the company hopes to launch the new standards, having already identified some benchmarks.

Walrond only recently returned from North America where she looked at models used by international financing companies.

Additionally, Scotia's parent company in Canada has the technology from which the local company can leverage its customer systems.

At present, BNS's service branches have comment cards. Some Scotia branches offer different comforts, including seating for senior citizens, dedicated lines for Scotia Gold customers and greeters.

A few give clients the options of doing non-cash transactions through ABMs installed inside the bank.

Walrond said issues such as the length of time the customers spend in the bank or their desire to have more private-type conversation will be noted.

But, she is already indicating that some issues are outside the bank's power to amend, saying that some of the negative experiences are rooted in compliance requirements.

Scotia, she said decisively, is big on compliance, but adds that where possible, technology would be employed to simplify processes.

Walrond's team will also examine whether more staff is needed in some branches for service functions, which entail interaction with customers.

It will also be their job to improve service to target markets.

"We are looking at the next step -of being more approachable to young people and small businesses," the new executive said, suggesting that Scotia could benefit from a softer image.

The bank, having turned over impressive profits for a decade, is considered shrewd, but hard-nosed in business.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com