Solutions for Treating Customers Fairly
The UK government initiative, Treating Customers Fairly (TCF), aims to improve the experience that customers face when dealing with financial services organisations. It has far-reaching consequences for businesses and, ultimately, customers.
What is Treating Customers Fairly (TCF)?
The TCF initiative was set up by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in response to the growing problem of customers being mis-sold financial products. TCF also extends to all customer interactions, thereby affecting call centres, written material (including web site content) and marketing efforts, to ensure customers are protected and get a "fair deal".
How Does It Affect FSA Regulated Organisations?
All UK financial services organisations will have to prove to the FSA they are treating all their customers fairly by complying with six outcomes:
- Outcome 1: Consumers can be confident that they are dealing with firms where the fair treatment of customers is central to the corporate culture
- Outcome 2: Products and services marketed and sold in the retail market are designed to meet the needs of identified consumer groups and are targeted accordingly
- Outcome 3: Consumers are provided with clear information and are kept appropriately informed before, during and after the point of sale
- Outcome 4: Where consumers receive advice, the advice is suitable and takes account of their circumstances
- Outcome 5: Consumers are provided with products that perform as firms have led them to expect, and the associated service is of an acceptable standard and as they have been led to expect
- Outcome 6: Consumers do not face unreasonable post-sale barriers imposed by firms to change product, switch provider, submit a claim or make a complaint
Fines and thorough audits are the likely penalties for not meeting the standards set by FSA's Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) initiative.
Why Introduce It?
The reasons for introducing TCF are clear — ensuring the requirements and experiences of the customer are pushed to the top of the corporate agenda. TCF is an opportunity for all businesses to rethink their approach to customers.
How Does This Affect the Online Channel?
For most customers, the web is the first exposure they have in dealing with an organisation. By the time a customer rings a call centre, following a negative experience on the website, it is the last chance that organisation has of rescuing the customer before they lose the business to a competitor. Unifying and, crucially, measuring the customer experience across offline and online channels is central to creating a positive interaction with an organisation and lies at the heart of TCF.
What Can Be Done to Help?
An emerging breed of technology, such as that offered by Tealeaf, addresses the problems outlined, giving complete visibility into the online customer journey. Information relating to the online customer experience can be integrated with the call centre agents' customer management system.
