‘Ulster Bank Group / First Active’

As part of a larger brand repositioning project undertaken by our sister company Genesis, W5 was retained to design and manage a customer experience audit to evaluate the customer experience in First Active branches.

To achieve this, W5 instigated an Mystery Shopping programme, recruiting a team of researchers to visit each of the 54 First Active branches around the country. This programme is specifically designed to give deep qualitative feedback, rather than merely “tick the box” quantitative data. Each researcher is carefully recruited according to a defined specification matching the profile of a typical First Active customer. This profile may change depending on the product or service under review. Prior to beginning their branch visits the researchers are fully briefed on the research process, questionnaire, scenario and products under review, and trained via role-play simulations with a trainer acting as a typical branch staff member.

Designed around the ideal customer experience as identified and developed during the initial phase of the project, the questionnaire delivers both robust quantitative data from carefully selected rating scales and in-depth commentary on each touchpoint throughout the customer experience. Each completed questionnaire is then reviewed during a debriefing between the project leader and researcher to ensure consistency and full understanding prior to being reported to the client.

Each quarter, the senior retail management of First Active receive a detailed PowerPoint presentation which identifies overall trends, branch by branch performance, areas of excellence and areas of concern. This information informs training, branch refurbishment and development, sales process design, and product development. In addition, each branch receives a detailed report of the researcher’s visit.