In celebrating Customer Service Week, get to know Oluwanifemi, the powerhouse driving Customer Success at Earnipay.
Let’s meet Oluwanifemi. Tell us about yourself.
My name is Oluwanifemi Adetona and I believe that exceptional customer experiences are vital for any business’ success.
I have dedicated my career to ensuring positive interactions between customers and companies. My career experiences have taught me the value of diverse perspectives and the importance of empathy, which I bring to my interactions with customers every day.
Outside of work, I enjoy exploring new fun places, fashion designing, playing dress-up, and spending time with my family.
You really love this Customer Success career path. How did you find yourself in this niche?
I’ll say a combination of my career interests and life experiences brought me here.
I was initially drawn towards Customer Service/ Success because of the way some people interact with their customers.
Imagine buying something and discovering a defect. Then, you take the responsible step of reporting the issue. However, instead of receiving the help you anticipated, the seller attempts to invalidate your feedback. How would that make you feel?
If I’m paying for a service or product, I should get equal value for it.
I believe that if you can’t resolve an issue, try to make the customer feel better. What really matters is how the customer is treated and the empathy they receive.
I’ve had a couple of similar experiences in the past and they motivated me to make a difference.
While I may not be able to resolve issues all the time, I aim to ensure that customers feel heard and become strong advocates of the brand because they had a positive and empathetic experience with our Customer Success representative.
My first career experience was at GTBank where I completed my internship. If you’ve ever been to a bank (you definitely have), you’ll know that there’s a different level of chaos in the Customer Service department because of the complaints and feedback from customers.
My team lead at that time, played a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of my career. I saw him carry his job on his head literally and how he skillfully handled interactions with customers, even the very rude ones.
Inspired by my team lead’s dedication and skill in handling customer interactions, I took relevant courses and consistently worked on developing my skills. I also actively pursued roles in Customer Success. The rest, as they say, is history.
Can you share a memorable Customer Success story where you and your team went above and beyond to help a customer achieve their financial goals or resolve an issue?
In my previous company, I encountered a customer issue that truly improved my commitment to resolving issues and ensuring customer satisfaction.
Let me call the customer, Dayo. Dayo reached out to say that he had mistakenly transferred a huge sum of money from his app wallet to the wrong account and it left him stranded.
The issue was quite intense because he needed the funds urgently. His wife was in labor and he had to pay for her medical bills. He went as far as attaching pictures and videos to explain his predicament.
Understanding how dire the issue was, we sprung into action. Bear in mind that transfer to a wrong account usually comes with a 50-50 recovery rate, because of all the technicalities attached.
We reached out to the receiving bank and we also reached out to our compliance team to confirm if we could lay chargeback claims. Throughout this entire process, we maintained transparent communication with him, keeping him informed of every step we were taking.
We also offered him temporary credit to cover the bills while we worked to resolve the issue.
After a couple of days, we managed to recover the transferred funds and got them deposited into Dayo’s app wallet.
You might be wondering how we were able to do that; The recipient had already spent part of the money because he was also expecting some funds from someone else. Because we contacted the receiving bank swiftly, they placed a lien on his account, preventing further spending. This also ensured that any additional funds deposited into the account would be deducted to offset the outstanding balance.
At the end of the day, he refunded the remaining part of the money. Dayo was not just relieved but he was very appreciative of the effort we put into ensuring that he got his money back.
He was so happy that he kept referring people to use the product. He went on social media to praise us and would even send emails just to appreciate us.
We were able to achieve this because we understood the importance of swiftness and being empathetic.
How do you measure customer satisfaction, and what KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) do you consider most important in evaluating the success of your customer service activities?
At Earnipay, we prioritize customer satisfaction as a fundamental metric of success. We use a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to measure.
One of the key components is NPS (Net Promoter Score). This helps us gauge the overall satisfaction and loyalty of our customers. Customers who respond between 9-10 are considered promoters, while customers who pick lower numbers are considered passive customers or detractors.
This helps us understand our customers’ willingness to recommend our financial wellness product to their friends and family.
We also carry out CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) Surveys. This helps us delve deeper into certain aspects of our products to understand the overall user experience of customers. It gives us insight into what aspects of our products need improvement and what aspect meets our customers’ needs.
We also closely monitor customer feedback through social media, emails, and direct customer interaction.
Finally, we track the time it takes to resolve issues and inquiries. Reducing the resolution time frame is a critical KPI for us because it directly impacts our customers’ experience. We aim to resolve issues timely while maintaining a high standard of customer service.
Other KPIs are Customer churn rate, customer testimonials, and referrals, retention rate etc.
In your opinion, what role does proactive communication play in delivering exceptional Customer Service, especially in a Fintech environment?
In the Fintech industry, the security of financial transactions and data is important.
Proactive communication in this line of business is a very critical component of delivering exceptional customer service. This is because Fintech companies handle sensitive customer information, so proactively communicating with your customers about updates, downtimes, routine maintenance, etc. will assure your customers that their data is protected with you.
What’s your day-to-day like as a Customer Success Executive at Earnipay?
My day-to-day responsibilities are dynamic. However, no matter how dynamic it gets, the focus is ensuring that customers are attended to and satisfied.
Every day, my routine starts with a thorough check of emails and chats, ensuring I address any requests or complaints that may have come in overnight.
Promptly addressing critical matters is a top priority.
On some days, I engage in customer-focused meetings with the team to enhance our customer experience.
By day’s end, I conduct an analysis of the number of tickets received and the types of complaints logged. This helps inform what improvements to make.
In general, I work with cross-functional teams to ensure prompt resolution of issues, all in pursuit of elevating our customers’ satisfaction and overall experience.
If your Customer Success team were a famous movie or superhero group, who would they be, and why?
It’ll be Avengers!!!
A customer success team should have people with diverse skills and expertise, driving the team’s growth and success.
Just the way the Avengers bring their diverse skills to protect the imaginary world from threats.
What advice or tips would you offer to aspiring Customer Success professionals looking to excel in the Fintech industry?
I’d say understand the Fintech industry and its sub-sectors. Stay updated with the emerging technologies that impact the Fintech industry. Also, have a customer-centric mindset, be empathetic, and be open to feedback.
Finally, never stop learning.
I hope you enjoyed reading Oluwanifemi’s story. Till our next Employee Spotlight, Bye!
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