From Processes to People: Mustafa Gürel’s CX Journey at Van Lanschot Kempen
In the world of private banking, customer trust and relationships are everything. For Mustafa Gürel, Customer Experience Manager at Van Lanschot Kempen, driving customer experience has been a long-term journey of shifting the organization’s mindset from focusing on products and processes to building an experience rooted in emotions, strategy, and culture.
Who is Mustafa Gürel?
Mustafa Gürel has spent over 27 years in banking and insurance, with more than a decade sitting directly at the client table. Since 2010 he has been part of Van Lanschot Kempen, where he transitioned from private banking leadership into customer experience. For the past six years, he has been fully dedicated to embedding CX into the DNA of the organization. As he explains: “In 2018 I came into contact with the term customer experience, and that’s when my journey as a CX specialist truly started.”
Understanding the brand: Van Lanschot Kempen
Van Lanschot Kempen is the Netherlands’ oldest independent wealth manager, founded in 1737. The firm serves wealthy individuals, institutional clients, and investment banking clients, with private banking as its core business. In such a niche market, differentiation is key. “The biggest challenge is how to remain distinctive compared to competitors in a relatively small pond,” Mustafa says. CX has become one of the levers to achieve this.
The challenge: building CX from scratch
Van Lanschot Kempen began its CX journey in 2015, but early efforts were fragmented, focusing mostly on product and process improvements. According to Mustafa, this wasn’t enough: “With picking up a customer journey, you don’t necessarily change the DNA of an organization. That goes with baby steps.” By 2019, the bank launched a formal CX program, structured around three components: strategy, measurement & improvement, and people & culture.
The solution: A two-fold transformation
Crafting a clear customer promise
The first step was to develop a customer strategy with clear principles and emotions. Using workshops with colleagues across all levels, customer feedback, and data, the team defined three core principles—personal, clear, and alert. These principles became the guiding compass for all client interactions. “If you don’t have a customer promise, you don’t have a guide to steer customer experience in your organization,” Mustafa explains.
Embedding CX in culture
To activate the principles, Van Lanschot Kempen invested in training and inspiration. Every employee followed a four-hour mandatory CX module, followed by refreshers, e-learning, and regular inspiration sessions. This was crucial in helping colleagues translate abstract principles into daily behaviors. Mustafa emphasizes: “You can explain and train a lot, but you also need to show it in practice.”
Linking CX to business impact
To gain buy-in across the organization, the CX team linked customer metrics like NPS to business results. By proving that promoters deliver more financial value than detractors, they secured management support. “If you can show that customer experience also impacts the bottom line, it’s much easier to convince people,” says Mustafa.
Lessons learned & advice for CX professionals
From his journey, Mustafa highlights three lessons valuable for CX professionals:
- Start with a strong customer strategy. Without a clear customer promise, CX initiatives lack direction.
- Focus on culture change. Embedding CX requires training, inspiration, and constant storytelling across all layers of the organization.
- Show the financial impact. Linking CX metrics to business outcomes strengthens credibility and ensures executive commitment.
Final thoughts
Today, Van Lanschot Kempen has reached “Leading CX” status on the CCXP maturity scale, a goal the team set back in 2019. The challenge now is to sustain this level and continue growing. As Mustafa reflects: “Six years ago, customer experience wasn’t even on the agenda. Now, managing directors invite us to help shape their yearly plans. That shows how much the culture has changed.” His journey illustrates how perseverance, a clear strategy, and embedding CX in culture can transform even a centuries-old financial institution.