Bringing the Zappos Culture to Your Branches

If you're going to learn, learn from the best!  

Zappos went from a struggling start-up in 2000 to being acquired by Amazon for $1.2 billion in 2009.  And the driver to their success?  An unmatched dedication to customer service fueled by a relentless focus on a positive corporate culture.

"If we get the culture right, then everything else, including 

the customer service, will fall into place."

Tony Hsieh, 

CEO, Zappos

Hsieh is a genius.  It works for Disney, it works for Ritz-Carlton and it will work for you!  Focus on the culture.  Your competition can copy products and beat your price.  They can build more branches or out-tech you.  But if your culture rocks, they cannot take that.

We need more retail strategy in banking and the bank or credit union in your market that differentiates on culture will win the market share.  Here's how the best in the biz has done it:

ZAPPOS FAMILY CORE VALUES
1. Deliver WOW through service: To WOW, you must differentiate yourself, which means doing something a little unconventional and innovative. You must do something that's above and beyond what's expected. And whatever you do must have an emotional impact on the receiver.
2. Embrace and drive change: If you are not prepared to deal with constant change, then you probably are not a good fit for the company.
3. Create fun and a little weirdness: We don't want to become one of those big companies that feels corporate and boring. We want to be able to laugh at ourselves. We look for both fun and humor in our daily work.
4. Be adventurous, creative and open-minded: Over time, we want everyone to develop his/her gut about business decisions. We want people to develop and improve their decision-making skills. We encourage people to make mistakes as long as they learn from them.
5. Pursue growth and learning: We believe that inside every employee is more potential than even the employee himself/herself realizes. Our goal is to help employees unlock that potential. 
6. Build open and honest relationships with communication: Strong, positive relationships that are open and honest are a big part of what differentiates Zappos from most other companies. Strong relationships allow us to accomplish much more than we would be able to otherwise.
7. Build a positive team and family spirit: The best leaders are those who lead by example and are both team followers as well as team leaders. We believe that, in general, the best ideas and decisions are made from the bottom up.
8. Do more with less: While we may be casual in our interactions with each other, we are focused and serious about the operations of our business. We believe in working hard and putting in the extra effort to get things done.
9. Be passionate and determined: We value passion, determination, perseverance, and the sense of urgency.
10. Be humble: We believe that no matter what happens we should always be respectful of everyone.

Think of the power and freedom of these values.  Every single employee understands what is expected of them, every day - in customer and internal interactions.  In recruiting and hiring, candidates and employers know if Zappos is the right fit.  If you want to wear a suit and tie, fill out TPS reports all day and disappear into the woodwork to pick up a weekly check ... Zappos is not for you.  


So it's easy, right?  Just add these 10 values to your employee manual and voilà, your world will change overnight.

No so much.  What makes the Zappos brand and culture so powerful is that you CAN NOT simply slap anyone's logo on it and make it work.  Are you prepared to shave the heads of your employees?  Are you ready to have a record-long 10 hour service phone call to get it right for the customer?  Will you hire a corporate life coach?  Will your culture support a daily photo game where staff match employee photos to names so they get to better know each other?  Zappos did!  The Family Core Values are not just words on paper, but demonstrated every single day.

When you sit down to define who you are, make sure that it is unique to you.  Something that defines who you are and aspirationaly what you want to be.  And above all, it needs to be centered around the people who walk into your doors, click your website and call you every day.


Folks, this stuff works!

Zappos list of awards:

• J.D. Powers Customer Service Champion, 2011
• WGSN Global Fashion Awards - Outstanding Customer Service, 2010
• CMG Vision Award, 2010
• Innovation All-Star, Fast Company, 2010
• NRF Innovator of the Year, 2009 & 2010

We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too. Contact us to see how.

With more than 265,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues. Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker. Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

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937-426-9848

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Integration of the NON Sales Culture

What You Say

Sales: Educate and advise customers and members on institution product and services to cultivate a win-win relationship … benefiting the consumer and growing the bank or credit union.

What They Hear

Sales: Push products and services on customers that they probably don't need because my boss said to.  I may get a couple extra bucks for my efforts, but ultimately it’s all about growing the institution.

Odds are that if you polled your staff, very few want to be in “sales.”  The term has grown to have a bleak connotation.  Seriously, go to Google Images right now and search “salesperson” … go ahead, I’ll wait …

Do you really want to be most of the bottom-feeders that show up in that search?  Well, neither does your staff.

Yet, so many places focus on and preach about a "Sales Culture."  You hire consultants and trainers and go to seminars and webinars … all in search of the secret weapon that will make your people "sell."

Here’s some free advice … It doesn't exist!

So, while none of your staff want to be greasy haired, panel jacket wearin’, slime balls – they do want to HELP people.

Most financial institutions focus far too much on the wrong things.  Think about the last 12 months.  What percentage of your staff training was on operational issues and transactional business?  Is that where you grow your business?  No, it’s grown by the relationship opportunities.  The face-to-face, meaningful, “they came here to do something important” stuff.  This is NOT the time to "sell," but the time to build rapport and trust.

There are 5 simple steps to the NON Sales Culture:

   1. Get the customer talking

   2. Listen for cues on financial need

   3. Translate those needs into products and services

   4. Describe how your products and services can fulfill the need

   5. Ask if they want to open the helpful account while they are here

Facilitate Meaningful Conversation

The most important step is to get the customer to talk and to learn to REALLY listen.  To get them talking, you simply need to ask the right questions, then shut up and know what to listen for.  Here’s are a few starter ideas using checking as an example:

The Basics:

• Where do you have your checking account today?
• What do you like about it?
• What would you change?
• How do you use your account?
• What other important accounts do you have at other institutions?

The REAL Helpful Stuff:

• Learn about their family.
• Learn about their job.
• What d they do for fun?
• What life milestones are happening in their life?

This is a helpful front line tool that you can implement today
to help your staff ask the right questions EVERY time.

You don't need Zig Ziglar to fly in and train your team on this stuff.  By discussing the power of Meaningful Conversation to your entire staff: tellers, new accounts, lending, investments, call center, collections – you’ll have an integrated relationship building machine that will help your customers and grow the business!

We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too. Contact us to see how.

Nearing 240,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues. Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker. Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

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937-426-9848

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When the Teacher Becomes the Student (What I learned in NJ)

When I speak at credit union or community bank associations, I have two goals:

1) Provide at least one "ah-ha" moment - that magical time when a few words can make you look at the world a little differently, and
2) Have at least one "ah-ha" moment myself.

Last week I spoke for the New Jersey Credit Union League about building an authentic brand and branding your marketing department within the walls of your institution with ROI.  It was one of the most engaged, smartest groups that I've ever had the pleasure of speaking with.

During the full day training session, I picked up 2 new quotes that will make it into my starting rotation and in this week's blog, I'd like to share them with you too.

"It's not our fault, but it's our problem."

~ Disney Institute

Quick, round up all of your call center, tellers, branch managers, MSR/CSRs, anyone who interacts with your customers ... it's time you to take a field trip to your local tattoo parlor.  This quote is ink-worthy!

This quote is the foundation of Disney's quality service standard and it should become the backbone of your institution's culture!

It's not your fault that Mr. Washington bounced and check ... but you should do everything you can to help him make it better.  It's not your fault that Ms. Franklin overlooked her auto loan payment ... but you can help make sure she doesn't next time.  It's not your fault that Mr. Jackson came into the branch in a bad mood ... but you can help him walk out smiling.

Your entire team need to take responsibility, feel enabled and enjoy solving problems.

"If I asked people what they wanted, 

they would have asked for faster horses."

~ Henry Ford

It is vital to understand what your customers need.  It's our responsibility to determine how those needs can be met.  It's our job to be visionary.

Research is fine art.  You have to know what to ask, know whom to ask it of, and know what to ignore.

     Q: So, how did you hear about us?

     A: I just walked in.

Yah, right!  Your customer was just taking a stroll and decided to switch checking accounts, move all of their online banking, bill payments and automatic withdrawals - just like picking up a pack of gum and the grocery store.  Somewhere along the line, something that you did got to them.  Word-of-mouth about your outstanding service, a print ad, driving by the sign everyday going to work ... something effected them and made you top of mind when they got mad at their former bank.

We need to get beyond what our customers say and dig down into what our customers mean.  We need to give them what they need, not necessarily what they say they want.

So, there you have it ... my latest "ah-ha" moment.  What YOU can do with it is up to your imagination.  Let us know what big ideas you get and comment on this blog below.

We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

With nearly 220,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Follow me on Twitter @egagliano

USAA ... The Disney of Banking?

As a life rule, many people ask, "What would Jesus do?"  As a marketer, I typically ask myself, "What would Walt do?"  As bankers, we should all ask, "What would USAA do?"

In 2006 I left a Marketing role at a credit union and came to MarketMatch. Still, 7 years later, I'm a fiercely loyal CU member. They have my mortgage, home equity, 2 auto loans, checking, savings, credit card and some investments. But when I decide to leave, I'm going taking my accounts to USAA.

I have USAA home and auto insurance and, to me, they are the Disney of banking. Maybe that's why, in a 2011 Forrester report, USAA was found to lead our industry with 3.5 products per member, with Navy Federal Credit Union close behind with 3.1.

How can you see these kind of results?

Focus on Service, but Don't Forget Sales

USAA averages 3.5 products per member while Wells Fargo, a sales machine, "only" has 2.6 products per customer. What's up with that? In my opinion it's a slight deviation of focus.

I've shopped many a Wells Fargo for clients all over the country and they have an outstanding sales model.  USAA, on the other hand, has an outstanding SERVICE model.

I've been a USAA member for 19 years and in that time, I've NEVER met a single employee face-to-face. Yet, I still consider them the greatest service company that I do business with.

The USAA Way: Like Disney, the primary driver is the member experience. Focus every single member interaction on service first! Service leads to trust and trust leads to sales. Then ask simple questions at every interaction and suggest products related to individual responses. It's that simple. The unspoken steps here are: 1) Listen and 2) Care!

Bundle Products
Customers often walk in the door or come to your web site inquiring about a product.  The successful institutions don't focus on one product at a time, they focus on clusters.

Here are some examples:
Debit cards, online banking and e-statements are not "cross sells" to a checking account, they are access points and should be as assumed as ordering checks.

As soon as your customer closes on that mortgage and moves in, they're going to start filling their new house with ... new stuff!  Help them by bundling a credit card with every mortgage. If they're good for $100,000+, they're also good for a couple extra grand on a credit card. And it should go without saying that your mortgage customers should have an automatic referral to any insurance offerings.

Every single commercial account has a decision maker with a personal account. Do you have them both?  How can you package the two to give you an advantage?


Blowup the Silos

I have a client who, when talking about referrals from the mortgage department to retail, is concerned about getting the customer's "permission" to call. What I sometimes need to remind them is that customers don't bank with a department, they bank with an institution.

Rarely does someone bank with XYZ Mortgage, or ABC Insurance ... they are going to XYZ Credit Union or ABC Bank.

What USAA does REALLY well is communicate internally. My auto insurance contacts may not have all the answers about retail checking, but they're certainly not shy about asking me if I'm interested.

Many of you offer a lot of products. I'm not saying that every employee has to be an expert on every product, but they should know everything that you have to offer and know how to get someone to the right contact within one transfer.

When you want to focus on improving what you do, spend some time at USAA.com.  Look at their Life Stages or their Advice Center.  Notice, though they likely offer a lot more services than you do, how simple their website is to navigate.


Think about it.  USAA has 3.5 products per member among more than 9 million members ... and no branches! They are killing us and they only have the computer and phone to build a relationship. Imaging what we could do with our world-class, face-to-face interactions if we took a few pages from USAA's playbook. We could become the most magical banking place on earth.

Read More

• Lessons From 100 Branch Experiences
• Disney Service in your Branches
• $#*! Bankers Say

We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

With nearly 195,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Take Referrals Personally

For just a minute, think about the last time you referred a company or service provider.

Did you tell your BFF about the salon or the stylist?

Did you tell your buddy about the mechanic or the shop?

Now the million dollar question ... Did you refer because of a $10 or $20 incentive?

Heck no!  You probably made the referral to help your friend out ... because you had a positive experience and wanted your friend to have the same.  Because good service is darn hard to find nowadays and you feel it should be rewarded.

We believe referrals are an emotional decision and that a person refers a “person” more than a “place.”  Your institution has thousands of personal interactions with customers every year … that's thousands of opportunities to EARN a referral.  Rather than a “would you like fries with that” approach that commoditizes the referral “ask”, we recommend a personal referral strategy.  This approach makes the referral a highly valued process from “one person of trust” to another and ties the emotion of satisfaction and expertise into the “ask.”

10 Tenets of an Effective Referral Program:

• Don't focus on new customers who don't know how great you are yet, focus on seasoned customers who have been "wow"ed.
• Take advantage of EVERY "wow moment": account openings, loan closings, after you've solved a problem.
• You should REWARD for positive behavior, not use an incentive as a carrot to refer.
• To simply hand out a flyer or coupon and hope for a referral is passive ...  To use a referral program to generate leads for your staff to actively follow-up on is effective.
• Make the referral as easy as possible - Consider an electronic or web-based driver to collect leads.
• Don't ask for too much information from the referee.  
• Consider your story ... WHY should people refer your institution.  Make sure your customers know the story and why to refer.
• Ask for the referral multiple times ... at point of sale, a few days later a week later.
• Build your referral strategy around a measurable metric ... then track and tweak where necessary.
• Assign accountabilities for referral follow-up and track close ratios ... incent where appropriate.

From an ROI standpoint, referrals should be one of your best producing strategies.  If you've been taking a "set it and forget it" approach to referrals, it may be time to relook at your plan.

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With nearly 170,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

We bring these marketing philosophies to community banks and credit unions nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

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MarketMatch is a marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the right story that will generate the greatest  MOMENTUM and prove the best RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.

See our story here. (click)

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Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848