Okay, there are instances where things are rather obvious. If you see someone in your office walking down the hall with a newspaper tucked under their arm you have a fairly good idea where they just came from. And you probably want to avoid shaking their hand. But not all assumptions are as obvious.
There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys, how’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”
(If at this moment, you’re worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise old fish, please don’t be. I am not the wise old fish...just a guy with good eyesight and marketing vision!)
The immediate point of the fish story is that the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are overlooked in everyday life and business.
Sometimes, as employees that serve the public, we fail to remember that we are exactly like our customers before we come through the office door. You have high demands and expectations, too! The coffee we pick up on the way to the office had better be perfect. The dry cleaning must be perfectly pressed. And your financial planner had better be devising a long-term plan that is in your best interest.
And then, in the case of some bankers, something happens when we take our positions behind the teller desk or on the other end of the phone. Too often, we make assumptions about what is on our customers’ minds and what it is that might provide the most relevant solution to their most pressing problems. Too often, the conversation at the point of sale is dominated by what is in the best interest of the bank.
Sometimes the solution is simply to put yourself in the customers’ shoes, ask the right questions and exceed those same expectations that you demanded before you walked through the office door. By asking, “how’s the water?”, you might be surprised by the amount of information that your customer or prospect is willing to tell you.
For me, its about alinging marketing with sales, our actions with our customers and our banks with our marketplace...
I am pleased to be joining MarketMatch and you can look forward to many more thoughts and anecdotes through our Blog in the coming weeks and months.
Cheers!
Nick Vaglio
There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys, how’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”
(If at this moment, you’re worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise old fish, please don’t be. I am not the wise old fish...just a guy with good eyesight and marketing vision!)
The immediate point of the fish story is that the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are overlooked in everyday life and business.
Sometimes, as employees that serve the public, we fail to remember that we are exactly like our customers before we come through the office door. You have high demands and expectations, too! The coffee we pick up on the way to the office had better be perfect. The dry cleaning must be perfectly pressed. And your financial planner had better be devising a long-term plan that is in your best interest.
And then, in the case of some bankers, something happens when we take our positions behind the teller desk or on the other end of the phone. Too often, we make assumptions about what is on our customers’ minds and what it is that might provide the most relevant solution to their most pressing problems. Too often, the conversation at the point of sale is dominated by what is in the best interest of the bank.
Sometimes the solution is simply to put yourself in the customers’ shoes, ask the right questions and exceed those same expectations that you demanded before you walked through the office door. By asking, “how’s the water?”, you might be surprised by the amount of information that your customer or prospect is willing to tell you.
For me, its about alinging marketing with sales, our actions with our customers and our banks with our marketplace...
I am pleased to be joining MarketMatch and you can look forward to many more thoughts and anecdotes through our Blog in the coming weeks and months.
Cheers!
Nick Vaglio
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