The online environment of the community is managed from the head office in Utrecht, the community management is filled in by local banks. When local banks register for the community, the employees receive training and then invite their own members. They determine in which order members scenario-based entry to accurately reach users are invited to participate in the community. A central community manager is active from Rabobank, who supports the local community managers and manages the platform.
Why was the community set up?
Research is done a lot, but Rabobank wants more input than just numbers. When I ask whether Rabobank considers the community as a service channel or uses it more for market research or marketing, Gwen answers: “Market research is now the main part. We want to let members think along in processes and let them determine the change calendar. The goal is to give customers influence and let them think along about the change processes of Rabobank.”
Members can also talk to each other on a forum. Rabobank hopes that this will eventually develop into a service forum where members can help each other. Examples of questions that employees had were: are letters that the bank sends to customers clear, does the message get across? A marketing list concrete example of this is the cancellation of an and/or account: legally speaking, a signature from one of the partners is sufficient. This was seen as unclear.
Constructive Criticism & the Service Forum
Most of the questions that come in are about service. The participants are happy to think along and often 12 ways to increase website sales through personalization give constructive criticism in the community. The community managers work with predetermined research questions, for example about a specific process. In doing so, feedback is actively requested from the members. Employees contribute these questions.