BNZ banks on Surface for helping SMBs succeed

 |   Bob Glancy

Helping Kiwis be good with money is the heart of what BNZ, one of New Zealand’s largest banks, aims to achieve.

Around 97 per cent of enterprises in New Zealand are small businesses, and BNZ offers products and services designed to help these small businesses and start-ups succeed. The Small Business Acquisition team is a unit within BNZ that spends its time helping new small business customers get the most out of their banking.

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BNZ Small Business Acquisition Managers are on the road seeing customers every day. A key challenge the team faced was carrying around hard copies of brochures and documents for customer information and interaction, then having to return to a central point to process paper work – meaning a lot of time was spent on administrative tasks.

Last year BNZ identified a need for Small Business Acquisition Managers to have a more mobile solution, so a pilot study was conducted to compare different mobile devices.

Gerard Graham, BNZ Chief Operating Officer – Technology says that the decision between devices was relatively easy.

“The results from the pilot pointed clearly towards the Surface. One hundred per cent of participants said the Surface was their preferred device,” says Gerard.

Previously BNZ Small Business Acquisition Managers carried around cumbersome laptops, but now the entire team, made up of more than 50 staff, has their own Surface device.

bnz_surface_2“We’ve worked hard to equip our BNZ Small Business Acquisition Managers with the right mobile solution so that they can be focused on delivering better outcomes for our customers,” says Gerard.

In addition to now carrying a Microsoft Surface, which acts as a total desktop replacement with access to all BNZ systems, the team also now uses a custom designed cloud based mobile presentation application for easy and consistent access to BNZ collateral while on the go, without having to connect to the internet.

“The Microsoft Surface solution aligns with BNZ’s technology strategy in two ways. Firstly, we want our customers to be engaged by our staff at all times in the most effective way possible – the Surface allows us to bring this ‘Customer First’ strategy to life. Secondly, we want our team to be able to access technology solutions through their devices easily when on the road, in order to better serve our customers,” says Gerard.

BNZ Small Business Acquisition Manager Simon Paris says the move from laptop to Surface offered a more personal sales experience.

“Instead of having a laptop in front of you, dividing us from the customer we are talking to, the Surface with touchscreen and pen allows the conversation to be much more interactive.

“Having digital forms and brochures immediately available means, for example, I can talk a customer through an application process and answer any questions they have on the spot.

“I used to find that forms emailed out after a conversation often didn’t get filled out and back to us, meaning opportunities were missed. My customers love it too, saying it’s like we’re bringing the store experience right to them. I couldn’t ask for better feedback than that,” says Simon.bnz_surface_1

One of BNZ’s small business customers, Lisa Mackay, Managing Director of HRtoolkit says she has noticed the difference since the team swapped to Surface products.

“I find the Surface allows me to have interactive conversations with my small business manager – when they use the device they are more engaged in conversation and I can really understand the value of what BNZ has to offer,” says Lisa.

Simon explains that BNZ has already received positive feedback since the IT upgrade.

“We’ve received great feedback about the quality of our customer interactions and conversations. The new solution has improved our time in market, allowing us to see at least one extra customer per week, and business conversion has improved too.

“At the end of the day, the Surface device makes us more effective in the field and delivers a great customer experience,” says Simon.