Interview with Bojan Brezlan, Customer Relations Director at PBZ Card
PBZ Card is the leading card company in the Croatian market. The company issues Premium Visa cards and is also responsible for the Visa and Mastercard cards of Privredna banka Zagreb, which makes up a total card portfolio of two and a half million cards. The company bases its success on rich knowledge and experience in the card business acquired during fifty years long tradition and a strong position built by Privredna banka Zagreb (which owns PBZ Card), as a leading bank in the introduction of new technologies and products in the card business.
The relationship with cardholders and quality service is one of the basic guidelines of the company's operations. Bojan Brezlan acquired his work experience and knowledge in the card business, dealing with cardholders within the entire PBZ Group. He started his professional career in the card business in 2004, when he started working as an agent in the PBZ Contact Center, and then continued it in PBZ Card, first as a Contact Center team leader, then as an assistant director. Today he is a director of the Customer Relations Department, which includes three units in charge of communication with cardholders of all segments through various media. With his extensive knowledge of the topic, we talked to Bojan about the challenges PBZ Card faces in client communication management and the benefits of omnichannel solutions.
We communicate with our cardholders daily and, as we often point out, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Communication, relationship with our cardholders, and quality of service are the focus of our business.
In communication with cardholders, we use various channels, from the e-mail, chat, specially created forms of communication on our web pages, and telephone. We try to be of service to each cardholder, regardless of their preferred communication channel. Cardholders mostly choose the traditional communication channel - the telephone. Still, it should be said that we are recording a continuous growth in the use of e-mail and specially created forms of communication on our websites, while the use of telephones is stagnating.
What are the challenges that PBZ Card encounters when interacting with clients?
As with most companies, the biggest challenges are providing the best possible service in a given time period with available technology and resources. Time is precious to all of us, and it is very important to respond to the inquiries/requests of our cardholders as soon as possible. However, we believe that quality should come before the speed of solving a specific query. Changes in cardholders’ habits during the pandemic led to an accelerated digital transformation in a relatively short time. Although we believe that we are moving in the right direction, both in the entire business and in relation to communication and general relations with cardholders, there is always room for a wider introduction of artificial intelligence.
I believe Omnichannel’s characteristics and advantages are primarily in its goal of satisfying the needs of cardholders and in the purpose of adequately managing the processes and potentials of an individual company. Cardholders’ profiles are different, and thus their needs, which leads to different preferences for a specific communication channel in certain situations. In situations where the cardholders need a quick answer to his query, he/she still most often reach for the phone, chat/social networks, or will look for the answer through our websites. If he/she does not need the information right away, he/she will use one of the "slower" communication channels, such as a classic letter or e-mail message. A wide selection of available communication channels allows cardholders maximum flexibility and us better management of communication processes and available resources. Of course, for omnichannel to be a positive experience for all parties involved, there should be continuous control of communication channels in real time. It is crucial to allocate resources to a specific communication channel in a timely manner, and perform analysis of cardholder requirements in order to adjust internal processes.
Live provided us with a superior omnichannel experience, as it supports all communication channels (inbound and outbound). Thanks to Live, we are able to carry out complete communication with cardholders in one place, regardless of the communication channel. We have insight into the entire correspondence with the cardholder at all times and can easily adapt to his/her preferences. Precisely because of the availability of complete communication in one place, we can easily conduct quality analyses and draw conclusions that become the basis for improving business processes.
ASEE has created a superb communication platform and continuously improves it. As I already mentioned, they offer all communication channels and continuously improve AI. Their team promptly responds to all the requests of users of the Live application and fully adapts it to the needs of partners to get the greatest possible benefits from it.
Learn more about how the Live product family can help you support and improve your customer experience strategy.
