Nedbank Business Banking achieves global top honours

Nedbank Business Banking has been rated one of the top scorers in the world in their first ever CMAT™ assessment, conducted in November 2010 by REAP Consulting (Pty) Ltd.

CMAT™ is one of the world's leading diagnostic and benchmarking tools in the field of customer management, with a track record of 13 years and used over 900 times by many blue-chip companies globally as well as several well-known JSE-listed brands. CMAT™ evaluates the degree to which 260 customer management practices are embedded in an organisation and scores these across three dimensions, namely intention, reality and effect, based on evidence provided.

According to Ingrid Johnson, Group Managing Executive of Retail and Business Banking at Nedbank, the CMAT assessment is a tough benchmark, with a global average score of just 36%. ‘Nedbank Business Banking’s score of 59% ranks us in the top five of the CMAT™ database globally, with this being the highest business to business score in the world.’

Peter Lavers of REAP Consulting, who has assessed many of the top 10% scoring companies globally, adds: ‘Nedbank Business Banking is one of the best customer management organisations in the world. The leadership and staff have successfully turned the theory of customer centred business into reality, delivering benchmark-beating scores across the board. In a market where there’s a perception that ‘all banks are the same’, Nedbank Business Banking has invested in differentiating themselves from their competitors via exceptional customer management delivered through their decentralised accountable business model.’

Johnson explains that, over the past five years, Nedbank Business Banking has been on a journey of fundamental transformation to become the leader in business banking for South Africa. Underpinning this strategy is a clear road map and client-centred approach which informs investments made in people, systems, products and processes. ‘The CMAT™ assessment is another indication that the business has made significant progress and is on the right path towards achieving its aspirational vision. Customer and staff satisfaction have both improved in the last year and are at their highest levels in 6 years, further confirming the impact we are having with our stakeholders.’

Johnson noted that the CMAT assessment is a true depiction of how Nedbank Business Banking focuses on its client experience, reputation and delivery: ‘Globally South African organisations are becoming more recognised by their performance, their understanding and retention of clients, and building loyalty.’

Nedbank Business Banking offers a full range of financial and advisory services to small to medium sized businesses nationally

Nedbank Business Banking operates through a well-entrenched, decentralised and accountable business service model, which uniquely positions the business to deliver personalise, efficient client relationship banking for the owner, the business and its employees based on local knowledge and a deep understanding of the client’s business.

‘While it is great to see our cohesive efforts over 5 years translated into world class results, we continue to invest in our localised frontline client service teams through training and automated tools to ensure we are delivering superb value added services to our clients at every opportunity,’ concludes Johnson.