Certification Story - Grooming Centre

CERTIFICATION

STORY Grooming Centre (Nigeria) Smart Certification helped translate Grooming Centre Nigeria’s vision into practice through an introspective process and rededication to upholding clients’ rights.

WHY SMART CERTIFICATION

Smart Certification is a way for financial service providers to demonstrate their commitment to client protection. To become certified, an institution must complete an independent, third-party evaluation of its policies and practices. Certification is the only truly global seal of an institution’s commitment to protecting economically vulnerable clients.

“Grooming Centre has always been a client-focused organization. We did some very basic things from the beginning in terms of getting clients to know their rights. When the issue of certification came up, we decided try to see how far the things we already did would meet those standards and what could be improved.”

GODWIN NWABUNKA, CEO, GROOMING CENTRE

About Grooming Centre Grooming People for Better Livelihood Centre, or “Grooming Centre,” was founded in 2006 in Lagos, Nigeria. At that time, financial services were essentially non-existent for economically active low-income people in many parts of the country. Today, the NGO has a network of 530 branches in 23 out of 36 states across Nigeria and serves more than 5.3 million clients.

Grooming Centre offers microloans, micro-savings products and other services that cater to its primarily female clientele.

“The client is queen” is a common refrain at Grooming Centre — a nod to the value it places on its clients. That’s also where Smart Certification comes in: Grooming Centre’s mission is to empower the economically active poor by bringing a range of tailor-made microfinance services to their door step in accordance with global best practices.

Smart Certification demonstrates Grooming Centre’s focus on clients and compliance with industry standards. The NGO received Smart Certification in 2016.

Benefits of Certification Grooming Centre perceived Smart Certification as the natural next step in their quality improvement journey. Its strong leadership, dedication to client protection, ambitious expansion goals, and desire to serve as a model for the industry catalyzed the NGO toward certification.

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THE SMART CAMPAIGN

Smart Certification challenged Grooming Centre to fundamentally rethink its definition of client protection and reconsider how its policies and operations affected clients.

The exercise produced a realization that there was much to be gained from client centric services and products and more to improve to achieve certification.

Some of the benefits Grooming Centre experienced as a result of Smart Certification include:

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Staff development. Grooming Centre overhauled its staff training materials to incorporate the tenets of client protection.

This initiative also helped clarify management’s expectations about client treatment. As a result, on-boarding staff and field interactions have improved. Since certification, the team has recorded fewer complaints and an increase in positive feedback from clients.

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Clear and engaging client communications.

Grooming Centre revamped its client-facing materials to be more customer-friendly as a result of Smart Certification. Disclosure agreements and loan application forms are now easier to understand. New communications materials, such as “Know Your Rights” posters displayed in all branches, now include infographics and pricing information more prominently.

“Once we engaged in the certification process, our conception of client protection broadened to include the client knowing what we are offering and the conditions. We initially thought it should be selfevident. Ultimately, it became clear that we needed to explain the total package and the total obligations that come with the package.”

NOEL IHEBUZOR, GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER, GROOMING CENTRE

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Improved customer service. As a result of Smart Certification, Grooming Centre established a toll-free hotline to receive client feedback. Grooming Centre staff, including its executives, make over 200 calls per week to proactively solicit client feedback. The callbacks have also closed the response time between when client complaints are lodged and when they are resolved to 24 hours.

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Responsible data management. Grooming Centre rolled out new client data storage and data sharing guidelines to achieve Smart Certification. The new privacy guidelines are more robust and clear. The IT department also implemented a software program that captures client complaints and feedback in real time. The institution also reduced the waiting period between application and loan disbursement from two weeks to one week. Client protection performance is now routinely discussed during weekly, monthly, and quarterly meetings.

The Client Perspective Clients in Nigeria typically demonstrate limited awareness of why their personal data must be safeguarded and how it should be protected. As a testament to clients’ increasing awareness of their rights following Grooming Centre’s Smart Certification, one client who was photographed for Grooming Centre’s annual report asked to sign a form providing her consent. Grooming staff was pleased to see that a client had fully understood the idea of client data privacy and advocated to protect it.

GROOMING CENTRE NIGERIA CERTIFICATION STORY

“Smart Certification evaluates the way that you do business, the way you communicate with clients, the way the client sees you and the way clients appraise you,” Isaac Fadairo, Head of Management Information Systems, said.

“It’s the modern way of getting feedback for what you do.”

Listening was mentioned as one of the most important things Grooming Centre has done to protect its clients since Smart Certification.

The customer care department overseeing the 24-hour toll-free hotline dedicates much of its time to listening.

“It’s very important to us because we actually use it to measure the depth of our services,” Maureen Abumere, Deputy Head of Training, Research, Documentation and Customer Care, said about the hotline. “It’s not all about the loan. We try to follow-up on the individual to find out how much we have been able to impact their lives. Feedback from clients during these calls has been a mix of appreciation, testimonies, constructive criticism, questions about products, or interest in getting to know their provider by talking to them one-on-one.”

Aishat Arunei, a caterer and interior decorator, has been a client of Grooming Centre for two years. When she first started her business, Aishat borrowed equipment to make her food. Now she owns her own. Aishat used to participate in an informal group savings scheme wherein she was denied her share when it was her turn to receive money from the group. Being involved with a certified institution that meets stringent customer care principles has given her

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“Smart Certification has really helped to balance the relationship between the institution and the customer. Now the customer understands that they have responsibilities as a client, and the institution knows about their responsibilities to the client.”

MAUREEN ABUMERE, DEPUTY HEAD OF TRAINING, RESEARCH, DOCUMENTATION, AND CUSTOMER CARE

confidence in financial transactions and enabled her to expand her entrepreneurial endeavors beyond the food industry.

Romoke Onaopemipo, a clothing designer and tailor, used credit from Grooming Centre to acquire sewing machines to grow her business. With encouragement from her credit officer, Romoke became more involved in the loan process, learning to check her account book to ensure that her payments were being recorded accurately. The transparency practices Romoke experienced were formalized through Smart Certification.

The Stakeholder Perspective Since becoming certified, Grooming Centre has experienced a boost to its international reputation and commendation from investors.

As one of two certified institutions in Nigeria, Grooming Centre has leveraged its position as a model for the sector to mentor nascent microfinance institutions via trainings on implementing basic client protections and running a sustainable operation.

Certification has also allowed the institution to stand out among its competitors and earn the respect of its clients. “The client knows what she’s getting,” Noel Ihebuzor, Governing Council Member, said. “The process of delivery respects the client. The product is client-friendly, you don’t over-indebt the client, the process of engagement is not hostile. The client knows that what you see is what you get.”

Learn More About Smart Certification Smart Certification provides an independent, objective seal of confidence that a financial institution is doing everything it can to treat its clients well and protect them from harm.

Learn more about the pathways to Certification and determine the best course of action for your institution at http://bit.ly/SmartCertification.

See more certification stories at www.smartcampaign.org.

ABOUT THE SMART CAMPAIGN

The Smart Campaign works globally to create an environment in which financial services are delivered safely and responsibly to low-income clients. As the world’s first financial consumer protection standard, the Campaign maintains a rigorous certification program, elevates the client voice, and convenes partners to effect change at the national level. Nearly 100 financial institutions, collectively serving more than 41 million people, have been certified for adhering to the Campaign’s industry-accepted consumer protection standards.

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THE SMART CAMPAIGN