A values focused and highly driven executive with over 30 years of experience in the banking industry. Nick May joined the Beyond Bank Group Executive Team as General Manager Corporate Services in 2013 before moving into his current role of Chief Customer Officer in 2016, Nick has responsibility for the banks distribution and retail network covering branches, the Customer Relationship Centre, digital team, Insurance division and the organisations third party division.
With oversight of the bank’s overall customer experience, Nick’s focus is on the relationships, service and interactions customers have through the banks various channels. Under Nicks leadership Beyond Bank has taken out numerous awards including Bank of the year for Customer Satisfaction through Forbes and Roy Morgan and Most Satisfied Mutual Bank through Canstar. Nick has extensive media experience across television, radio and print media as well as having responsibility for many of Beyond Bank’s corporate partnerships. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and a Graduate Diploma of Business Management as well as being a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with CXO Magazine, Nick shared insights on the role of CCO evolving in the upcoming years, his significant career milestone, personal hobbies and interests, future plans, words of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Nick. What inspired you to pursue a career in customer experience, and what motivates you to continue in this field?
I work in an organisation where customer service and building relationships are paramount to the strategy. The ability to drive our customer facing team to make a difference and build a team that genuinely cares and loves what they do is what drives me.
What do you love the most about your current role?
Working at a mutual bank means our customers are our shareholders so when we say we put customers first we mean it. No conflict with returning dividends to shareholders and customer outcomes. This means when we make decisions, these decisions always have the customer first – it’s a great model to be under when working in CX!
How do you think the role of the CCO will evolve in the next 5-10 years?
The role of CCO is forever evolving balancing the use of digital and people to create unique customer experiences. As the next generation matures, I think we are going to see more and more expectation around personalised proactive experiences. The use of AI and data will mature and making the most of these will be paramount to customer expectations.
Can you share your thoughts on the importance of data-driven decision-making in driving customer-centricity and business growth?
Customers expect organisations to be proactive in meeting their needs and efficient and effective in gathering their information. In financial services the use of data is critical to achieving this. As technology develops (such as open banking) and AI matures, the use of these initiatives from both financial institutions and fintech’s will create customer experiences like we have not seen.
How do you stay ahead of emerging trends and developments in customer experience and banking, and what resources do you rely on for professional development?
Trends in customer experience are fast and frequent so staying up to date with what’s going on is a bit of a constant for me. Read, listen and ask is a pretty simple and easy philosophy I tend to follow.
My natural (and perhaps preferred) style is to network and collaborate with others, so I like to tap into what others are doing, what’s best practice, share ideas and learnings. Finance generally, while fiercely competitive, is also an industry that tends to share best practice. Learnings from others both within the mutual sector and broader finance sector as well as outside organisations is a great resource to tap into.
In terms of professional development, I use a range of coaches, structured leadership groups (I’m currently a member of Aleda Connect) and resources such as Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and other forums.
What is your leadership philosophy and how do you keep team engaged and motivate them?
I know it’s a bit cliché, but good leadership comes with great communication.
While we all know good communication is about listening as much as speaking – communicating as a leader is much more than that. Its about being responsive, knowing what channels to communicate with (for different messaging), using your own passion and energy to instil that in others and most of all how to use communication to engage, build trust and motivate your team.
What has been your most career-defining moment that you are proud of?
I’m not sure it is career defining but what I enjoy about my role is building culture to drive performance. Around six years ago I lead the team through the design, development and implementation of a CX mantra and behaviours. While I was confident the team would embrace the concept, it has proven to be a vital cog in the development of the team’s culture. Imbedding the mantra and behaviours was embraced right from induction for new starters to annual performance reviews. Six years on and the behaviours are now not just across the CX team but the whole organisation. I’m very proud of the team’s passion around the mantra and the way they have used it as a tool to drive the right behaviours.
What are your passions outside of work?
I love sport (football, cricket and pretty much anything else) and love attending and watching sporting events – especially my own kids (poor them!). I’m about to coach the local U16 girls football team. It’s a great release from work but also a great opportunity to use the leadership skills I’ve developed professionally in a more social environment. I’m looking forward to not just developing the girls football skills but also their leadership and teamwork skills.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
Driving culture is something that, as a leader, has really resonated with me. The ability to do this in a large team has been something I have thoroughly enjoyed. I see myself continuing in this space, perhaps at an organisational level when the time is right.
What advice would you give to organizations looking to prioritize customer experience?
Delivering exceptional customer experience starts on the inside.
Its is important to ensure you have ‘right people right roles.’ Unique customer experiences require people that are technically capable, and staff can be trained on these elements, however it also requires people to have the right level of soft skills – empathy, drive, care, passion and these are generally inherit in people. Making sure you have the right people then stems into creating the internal culture. A team pulling in the same direction, driving one another and sharing success organically builds a culture that allows you to drive CX.