Driving customer centricity through organizational redesign at Barclaycard

The Opportunity

Barclaycard US knew that success in the competitive financial space required a shift from a product-centric perspective to one that puts the customer first. But true transformation was only possible with a complete redesign of their operational processes.

Recognizing the opportunity to merge customer experience (CX) and operational excellence (OE), the payments provider enlisted West Monroe’s expertise to: 

• Develop a customer-journey based governance model.
• Align senior leaders through executive education and training.
• Establish tools to strategically reallocate funds and resources to projects that prioritize CX

An Undeniable Approach

West Monroe’s multidisciplinary team of industry and technical experts came together to:

• Refine Barclaycard’s strategic vision of customer experience through lean CX principles aimed at increasing revenue while decreasing cost
• Evaluate negative customer experiences and pinpoint their root causes to develop data-driven solutions
• Establish a customer-focused framework that draws on multiple tools and methodologies, including customer journey mapping (CJM) and value stream mapping (VSM)
• Build an inventory of future state ideas based on links between customer action, perceived sentiment, and waste in the value stream

The Output

We delivered an organizational strategy to facilitate Barclaycard’s move from product-focused to customer-focused. Over the course of the project, our team:  

• Established executive alignment around CX strategies, allowing Barclaycard to better serve customers and adapt to shifting needs
• Mapped more than 100 projects to their corresponding points in the customer journey to uncover areas for CX improvement
• Developed a customer journey-based governance model to deliver a superior yet cost-effective CX
• Created a chief customer officer role to advocate for customer needs and hold teams accountable for CX quality
• Empowered decision makers to identify key issues impacting the customer journey and prioritize projects that allocate resources more effectively

Returns You Can Measure

West Monroe delivered a lean CX strategy and journey-based architecture that empowers Barclaycard to better meet customer needs in a constantly evolving market. Operational efficiencies translate to more engaged customers, as well as top and bottom line gains.

The Opportunity

With no retail presence and limited brand awareness, Barclaycard’s digital customers in the U.S. were growing at a rate of just 4% year-over-year. But their competitors were averaging around 10% growth per year. The cards and payments provider had to boost its digital capabilities—fast. 

The West Monroe team was brought on to:

• Identify gaps in digital offerings and address them through a multi-year roadmap.
• Leverage new digital capabilities to reduce operational costs and improve efficiency.
• Empower customers with a flexible and scalable solution designed to fit their unique. needs

An Undeniable Approach

West Monroe’s team of customer experience, financial services, and technical experts teamed up with multinational management and technology consulting firm, BearingPoint, to: 

• Develop a three-phase roadmap to balance customer needs and business objectives, and establish a shared vision for the Barclaycard executive leadership team
• Outline10 high-impact projects for year one, including the key vendor selections and operational changes required for completion
• Support interim project planning and implementation through digital integration across the organization, and knowledge transfer and training.

The Output

In partnership with BearingPoint, we delivered a three-year roadmap designed to improve Barclaycard’s operations and customer experience through flexible and scalable digital capabilities. Together, we: 

• Reduced operating expenses through self-service digital channels that alleviate the contact center
• Increased revenue through new upselling and cross-selling opportunities via digital channels
• Enhanced brand awareness and customer retention through more UX-friendly online applications and tools. 
• Enabled the release of new and updated digital products at a faster speed-to-market through a crossteam digital strategy

Returns You Can Measure

West Monroe and BearingPoint’s solution was so successful for Barclaycard US that Barclays is now implementing similar digital strategies across other business units worldwide. The results speak for themselves:

• Expected cumulative profit before tax of US$80-100 million over five years after three-year investment of US$15-20 million
• 15% increase in online (paperless) statement sign-up
• 11% of customers using mobile for self service
• 15% increase in opens and clicks on email marketing campaigns
• Mobile banking service app for the iPhone went live within just six months

The Opportunity

When new technology and digital devices dramatically changed consumer needs and behavior, Barclaycard US found itself at a turning point. The cards and payments provider needed an omnichannel marketing strategy that integrated data, operations, and CX. So, they developed an “Always On Marketing” vision and brought on West Monroe to:

• Develop a digital-first marketing strategy that integrates various data sources.
• Determine the business requirements and timeline needed for operational. transformation
• Build core omnichannel communications infrastructure to deliver the right message at the right time

An Undeniable Approach

West Monroe brought significant experience working with financial services and credit card providers in need of digital expertise to drive better customer engagement. We collaborated with Barclaycard to:

• Engage all affected stakeholders—including executive leadership, marketing, partner management, IT, credit management, and customer sales and service teams
• Define an integrated business model that merges inbound and outbound channels with data, CX, and technology service solutions
• Establish a three-phase Enterprise Content Management (ECM) transformation plan
• Unify siloed data sources and align key performance indicators across the customer journey

The Output

As a result of our work, Barclaycard was able to move from an outdated list-based campaign model to a modern marketing automation system that delivers more sophisticated campaigns with less effort and overhead. The West Monroe team:

• Created a single view of Barclaycard customers by integrating interaction, behavioral, descriptive, and attitudinal data into one marketing management solution
• Guided Barclaycard through the selection process for both EMM and marketing service providers by identifying cost measurement, ability to deliver, industry expertise/experience, and other quantitative factors
• Enabled the creation of complex, targeted offers across multiple channels, including direct marketing, e-mail, web, and contact center
• Established data-driven automated marketing emails, including triggered acknowledgements and reinforcements based on customer response data. 

Returns You Can Measure

We implemented a digital marketing strategy and automation solution that led to higher quality, repeatable campaigns with fewer capacity constraints, empowering Barclaycard to better meet customer needs in an evolving marketplace. Results include:

• 90% reduction in effort required to build and execute marketing campaigns
• Reduction in development and execution of marketing campaign time from 6 weeks to 10 days for the most complex campaigns