As a leader, there are two really important roles you must fufil: first is to extend trust to people; second is to give people your time.

 

I go into relationships with people I work with from a default position of extending trust. Being in a leadership role, people are constantly thanking me for the time I make available for them; but it’s me that should thank them for the time they’ve given, because unless I’m hearing the ideas they have, it becomes very difficult for me to mobilise resources and to clear obstacles that will allow them to achieve what they’re capable of doing.

 

As you move into leadership roles, there’s a big transition that’s important to recognise: the move from being skilled at giving answers to becoming skilled at asking questions.

FST Media: What day-to-day challenges do you face in your current role and how do you seek to overcome them.

 

It’s igniting audacity in our people – especially at BOQ – to think bigger. As a small challenger bank, we no doubt face challenges competing against the big banks’ brands, scale advantage, and ability to access finance at lower cost than us.

 

The biggest challenge I have is infusing self-belief in people to think bigger and appreciate the advantages we do have at BOQ, as opposed to thinking about not having what the majors do.

FST Media: What are BOQ’s business and digital priorities over the next 6 to 12 months?

 

Our single biggest priority will be to convert our considerable service advantage into a sales advantage. A large portion of that will come from improving our relationship model and our product propositions. These will be underpinned by investment in our people, but also in our technological and digital capabilities. 

When it comes to digital priorities specifically, we’re looking to improve the on-boarding process for customers, as well as using digital to improve the operating efficiency of the middle and back offices.

FST Media: How have analytics and data insights shaped BOQ’s customer service initiatives? 

 

It’s a key focal point of our business strategy. While we’re developing capabilities in that area, we’re not as far as we’d planned to be. There are, however, a couple of insights that we’ve already put into action; for example, we’ve used analytics to help us profile archetypes of bankers that would make the best branch managers. 

 

The heart and soul of our business is our owner/manager model. We’ve completed a detailed analysis of each of our 250 branches to identify their performance at a very detailed and granular financial level. We then married that with a qualitative understanding of the personality types, educational experience and business experience of the owner/managers to learn about archetypes that improve the way we recruit and to identify owner/managers that are well-suited for our model.

 

Another instructive area for us is examining customer behaviour when it comes to product usage, identifying issues around pricing elasticity as well as the way we structure marketing campaigns. We’ve found that there are some products tend to result in a greater customer lifetime value; having a better understanding of the incremental value from that means we can invest behind those products as opposed to others.

FST Media: Has BOQ been inspired by customer experience initiatives of organisations outside of the financial services sector?

Without a doubt. Ideas don’t just come out of your own conclave; you have to be open-minded and observant to what gets traction with customers beyond the banking industry to understand the itch that’s being scratched. 

 

There’s no doubt a lot of excitement wrapped up in the likes of ‘Uber’ and ‘AirBnB’. But the innovation that’s occurring in industries across the board provides inspiration for things we can do better. I’ve been really impressed with Telstra, from a customer services perspective, and the individual relationships they create between customers and their help staff, regardless of whether they’re in Manilla or onshore. 

FST Media: BOQ recently hosted a joint hackathon with Brisbane-based start-up hub River City Labs. How important are these events to spurring innovation within your organisation?

 

They’re crucial. Ideas come from mobilising and connecting people from different perspectives. When you’re able to host individuals that are unstoppable forces of nature driven by a passion to solve problems, and then connecting them with people from a venture capital perspective and those within the banking industry, it’s at that intersection where you unlock great ideas.

 

 

For me, there are two parts to this question. There’s a game changer in relation to technology, but also a broader trend beyond technology. 

 

In relation to technology, I’m particularly interested in digital risk capability. From a banking perspective, we continue to rely upon conventional methods to assess risk. The benefit of technology, both in terms of lowering the cost of analysis and especially broadening the breadth of variables you can bring to bear to assess credit worthiness, is an exciting area, particularly for a challenger bank. 

 

However, I think the biggest game changer is the rapid pace of technological change and what it will require in organisational cultures. The issues we’re dealing with are more complex than ever, and the solutions won’t be found within individuals, teams or organisations; they’ll only be found through cross-collaboration in the broader sense. The ability to foster a culture that knows how to engage, listen and interact in the broader sense will prove critical to an organisation’s success.

 

 

When it comes to technology, the momentum swings every two or three years; and, sure enough, there will be commentary on another form of technology. The key is to not lose sight of the fundamental business rule of ‘supply and demand’. 

 

Regardless of the technology that’s evolved, we must ask how it will increase demand and affect a customer’s willingness to pay; on the flipside, how will this technology help with the cost of delivery? We tend to get enamoured with what a technology is capable of doing – as if it’s a solution in search of a problem. My preference when it comes to dealing with technology is to think about the problem at hand and to then go looking for the solution.

 

 

Go to YouTube and search for “Fired up? Ready to go!”, then ask me how you can turn up the volume to unheard voices within our businesses.

Vimpi Juneja will be a featured guest presenter at The Future of Banking & Financial Services conference, Sydney, on the 10-11 November, 2016.