Moving from Customer Service to Customer Delight: An Ethnographic Study of the Relationship Managers in Banking Sector Dr. Damle Pramod1, Dr. Ketkar Manisha2 1Professor, Symbiosis International University's, Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management, Pune, India. pdamle@sitm.ac.in 2Director, Symbiosis International University's, Symbiosis School of Banking and Finance, Pune, India. director@ssbf.edu.in Online published on 11 October, 2017. Abstract As the banks in India strive to cope with ever tightening grip of top line and bottom line, the task of acquiring new customers and retaining the existing ones assumes an unparalleled significance especially in the light of competition of peer banks and other financial institutions. At this juncture most of the banks have recognized ‘Relationship Manager ’(RM) as a separate role, deployed the right manpower to take up that role and also went ahead with specialized training inputs to them toward capacity building and empowerment. On this backdrop, a differentiating factor that would give any bank an edge over others is the customer-centric culture. With a view to study this aspect, a qualitative research was undertaken with ethnographic study as the specific approach. A team of 20 researchers was built up and after a careful grounding they were sent out to multiple locations pan India to interact with Relationship Managers (RM) of a bank. What followed then was an ethnographic study via researcher-RM dialogue that continued for 8 weeks, when the researchers worked there as internees and got the grooming from the RMs. The findings of their interaction were then compiled, codified and the outcome is the present paper that throws light on the latest snapshot of an ethos where a customer assumes a pivotal position. Top Keywords Relationship Management, Ethnographic Study, Banks in India, Qualitative Research, Collaborative Ethnography. Top |