$#*! Bankers Say

This week, I had the privilege to, once again, conduct a customer experience analysis for a client.  This is one of my favorite activities as a consultant.  I get to walk into bank and credit union branches from all over the country and see the very best ... and, unfortunately, the very worst in what our industry has to offer.

Every time we conduct this exercise, I'm shocked by the stuff that comes our of banker's mouths.  We spend so much time training our staff on operational issues that, when they walk onstage with a customer or prospect, that's all they know to talk about.

Here are some examples of $#*! Bankers Say that we've heard when asking for information on checking accounts:

• "We don't have that phone scanning thing for checks, but I think Chase does."
• "We'll have to run you through Chexsystems.  And, if you qualify, we'll tell you what accounts you qualify for." (Not a great way to make a customer feel welcome)
• "We require two forms of ID." (So what)
• "It will cost you $50 to open an account." (They meant the minimum balance to open the account is $50)
• "We have a checking account for seniors." (To an obviously middle aged customer)
• "The brochures are over there." (They point and the conversation's over)
• "Tell me what you want."
• "We have the (XYZ) account, but the fee is..." (or any "But" statement!  Nothing good ever comes out of an employee's mouth after the word, "but.")
• "Our checking account pays interest, but the rate isn't very good." (See?)
• "They have a good online banking system." or "They can open the account." (Like the person doesn't actually work at the bank)
• "Is the checking account for you?" (No, it's a gift!)
• Any personal introduction after the conversation has ended and the customer is walking away.

And my personal favorite...

• "If you'd like to open an account, you can come back and talk to me. (Why not, right NOW?!?!)

To avoid this type of experience, follow a few simple guidelines:

• Find out what the customer needs before you start spewing information.  Ask: Where they bank now, what kind of account they have, how they use it, what they like and don't like about it.
• Make one or two product recommendations based on the customer's answers.
• Focus on benefits.  How will this account make their life easier based on what they said they want.
• Leave fees for the account opening.  Fee disclosure is a regulation, but doesn't need to be used to "sell" a product.
• Don't read the brochure to the customer ... know your products.  It sounds basic, but too many bankers seem to be learning the product while they read the brochure to sell it.  Better yet, every employee should have an account from your institution.
• "Conduct" operations ... don't "discuss" them.  In a restaurant you never hear, "We'll be happy to bring you that steak, but first someone will have to kill a cow."  

And most importantly...

• Treat every customer as if they are a guest in your home!  Don't point ... walk them over, make formal introductions and for goodness sake ...  SHOW SOME PERSONALITY!!!!

For a blog about our customer experience process and more tips, click here.

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Lessons From a Hundred Bank Experiences

I’m a career marketer.  Growing up as an ad agency account executive, maturing as a credit union marketing VP and now honing my skills as a marketing consultant for financial institutions.  If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from all of my experiences … no matter what industry you are in, no matter what segment you target, no mater what product or service you are peddling … the customer experience is king! 

That’s why, when sizing up our credit union and community bank clients, we often start by “shopping” their branches and those of their competition.  This has allowed me to experience, first hand, how more than a hundred branches hit a home run with members & customers – or completely screw it up.

Here’s what you can learn from a hundred credit union and bank shops.

THE PROCESS

First, you can do this exercise with your competitors yourself.  We simply enter the branches as if we are unhappy with our current bank and are shopping for a new checking account. 

Now here’s the tricky part.  After asking for checking information we simply shut up!  From there, let the shopped employee shine or fail.

What should you measure?

Make sure that you measure the exact same criteria across all shops.  This will keep a subjective exercise as scientifically objective as possible.  We measure on a 1-10 scale across three main areas:

1. Service

• What is the image of the branch?  Is it clean?  Professional? Comfortable or staunchy?
• Are you greeted promptly?  Do they even bother to look up or smile?
• Do they make eye contact during your conversation and are they courteous?

2. Sales

• Do they ask qualifying questions to determine your needs and wants?
• How is the product presentation?  Do they simply read the brochure or do they have a unique way to present their offerings?
• Do they offer a useful cross sell?
• Do they attempt to close the deal and help you leave as a new customer or member?

3. Overall

• Given the total experience, would you open an account with this institution?

This simple process, when compared with an honest evaluation of your own institution’s branches will show you where you are better, where you are weak and most importantly where you can leverage differentiation against the competition.

WHAT WE’VE EXPERIENCED

After more than a hundred branch experiences, I can sum up what we typically find in one of three categories: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.  Which would your branches fall into?

The Ugly: “The brochure handoff.”  These are the quickest shops as the staff simply handoff a checking brochure without even a conversation.  In one instance, I was handed the bank’s “product Bible” – a 50 page book – where I was expected to leaf through and find the page on checking myself.  This happens more often than any of us would like to believe.

The Bad: “The crutch.”  This is the most common type of shop, where the staff literally reads the product brochure to the potential member or customer.  I’ve even had tellers tell me all about their 50+ Senior Checking.  As a 40 year-old man with the heart of a 20-something, I take particular offense to these institutions!  The lesson here is to think about the “tools” that you are giving your frontline staff and how they may actually be used in real life in your branches.

The Good: These are the best shops, where staff asks relevant questions, recommends products based on the conversation and shares personal experiences of how they use the products.  The best-of-the-best treat you as if you are a guest in their home – offering you refreshments and walking you to the door when you leave.

TIPS

Each market has it’s own flare and each institution can learn something different from this exercise, but here are a few tips that we can all take away.

1. Get ‘em talking

Ask basic questions designed to generate meaningful conversation.

•       About their family

•       About their work

•       Where they bank now

•       Why they want to change

•       How they plan to use the account

2. Listen before you talk

It’s not a test! When a prospect asks about your checking account, they don’t want you to prove that you know all of the products that your institution offers.  They only want to hear about what’s relevant to them.

3. They came in for a reason

They got off their couch and drove past several other banks to get to your branch.  They walked into your branch for a reason.  Ask to open the account now!

4. Don’t give up

I’m sorry marketers, but your brochures are not THAT dazzling!  You can’t simply let a prospect walk out the door with a brochure and expect them to ever come back.  Put a follow-up process in place.

5. Don’t be afraid to get personal

Too often banks and credit unions forget that we are the gatekeepers to our customer’s money.  What could possibly be more personal than that?  If something is important to a customer, we can somehow affect it.  Here are some ways to get more personal with your front-line conversations:

Personal product use
“I love our online banking … it’s soooo easy!”  This is a much more powerful phrase than, “Would you like online banking?”

Personal experience
“Congratulations on your new baby!  When my first child was born, I found these products really helpful.”  You can’t use this with every interaction, but when you can, it’s gold.

Case history
“I had a customer who went through that once … here’s how we helped…” Every day, we affect people’s lives.  It will comfort a customer to know that you have helped out others in their situation and will build valuable trust.

Above all, Marketing is the art of communication, not simply in 30-second or 1-page snippets, but in all interactions.  Just as Marketing is responsible for driving traffic into the branches, it should be equally responsible for managing the communication processes that fulfill the advertising promises.  By learning from other institution’s successes and missteps, we can all provide a better experience.

Learn more about Experience Shops in our FREE WEBINAR on Friday, May 18 from 1:00 - 2:00 est.  Click here to sign up - hear from a credit union CEO who has seen positive change from the process.

If this article looks familiar, it ran on CUinsight on March 30, 2012

13 Ways to Watch Your Budget on Summer Vacation

As community-sized financial institutions, we're all about saving our customers/members money, right? Beyond providing great rates, we need to show that we care about every aspect of their finances.

Show that you understand how important it is to stretch every dollar during these long, hot summer months. Here are a few tips to share that will save on your customers/members Summer Vacation:

1) Save for summer all year long with a dedicated Savings Account. By putting aside $100 per month, you can have $1,200 for vacation in one year.

2) Create a budget for vacation. Break it into categories for each anticipated expense like hotel, food, entertainment and gas.

3) Review each budget category and find ways to trim it.

4) Try to make your own meals whenever possible. Eating out gets expensive and family picnics may be the most memorable part of your summer.

5) Stay with friends and family when possible. You’ll save on the hotel cost and sharing with friends and family adds to the fun.

6) Instead of an expensive vacation this year, why not try a “staycation.” A trip to the local zoo or amusement park is infinitely less expensive than a Florida sunburn.

7) Even if you travel, find free entertainment like museums, beaches and hiking.

8) Find free or low-cost activities for your kids. Start with the schools, rec. center, local parks or the YMCA. There are tons of fun and educational activities for the kids right here in town.

9) Split vacation costs with another family. Rent a condo or vacation home and spilt gas money.

10) Do your research. There are many online coupons and discounts.

11) Switch to a credit card with a lower interest rate. There’s no sense collecting air miles or other such perks with a high interest card if you can’t pay off your balance each month. Transfer it to a lower interest credit card at your institution.

12) If you and your friends have young kids, consider setting up a babysitting co-operative with another family. You look after their kids for an evening in exchange for a night out at a later date.

13) Cancel your gym membership. As the weather gets warmer, go for a walk or run around your neighborhood instead. You don’t need to spend $50-$150 a month to stay active.

I'd love to see some interactivity with this blog, folks ... and I know y'all are creative! If you have any ideas to add to this list, jot them down in the "comments" section.

Take care, Eric

6 Ways to Pinch Pennies and Grow

Don't let a tight budget stall your growth.

As marketing professionals, you're being expected - ney, demanded - to do more with less. The good news is that it simply takes some creativity ... and who has more creativity than us marketers?

Here are 6 ideas (some creative, some not) to help jump start the ol' mellon and get those neurons firing. Please, please, please feel free to add more by commenting to this blog.

6 Penny Pinching Ideas:

1. Create a referral program

OK, it's nothing new, but your existing customers can be your best asset. And let's face it, no matter how big you are - you have a lot of customers. It can be as easy (and cheap) as printing small, pocket-sized cards offering $5-$25 for the customer and their referred friend. Make sure you offer an incentive to both.

I've had success printing a brochure-sized piece with 4 business card sized offers of $10 to each - saying: Earn up to $40 by spreading the joy. Quarterly, I'd include it in newsletter mailings to all customers and watch the spike in new accounts.

The keys: Keep it easy, Keep it trackable, Make it fun.

2. Internal promotions

Don't want to incentivize your customers? Use your NEXT best asset - your staff. Make a game of which branch can recruit the most new customers. Offering incentives to a smaller group of people (or teams) will be easier on the budget.

3. Get out of the office

You should, of course, participate in the local Chambers - but how many bank/CU employees are out on your behalf? At a minimum, all senior management and board should be expected to be active in the community and promote the institution.  

The key: From church elder, to scout leader, to chamber committee member, there are plenty of opportunities to contribute - just make sure that promoting the bank/CU (elegantly) is also being done.

4. Bank@Work

Many credit unions have already mastered this - but, with a community charter focus and limited resources,  many more have forgotten this art.

Whether you call them SEGs or Commercial Clients, you have customers who have employees. And those employees are prospects. Find ways to communicate with them.

The key: Make sure your commercial staff teams up with your retail staff and vice versa.

5. PR - or "Image Management"

Your institution has a wealth of interesting stories that are likely overlooked because, since you see it everyday, you don't look at them as newsworthy. I'll bet your local news outlets (hungering for good news - especially from local financial institutions) would disagree.

• You mean banks ARE lending?!?!: Let them know how much you've lent to date. Even if it seems small by your standards, to "Tammy the teacher," it will seem huge.
• Case studies: Have you saved a family from foreclosure? Helped a kid go to college? Helped a student afford a trip overseas? Your staff do amazing things for customers everyday - it's the beauty of their job. Collect and share those stories.
• Share your expertise: Few understand finances better than bankers (at least lets hope so!). Be the local resource for sound financial guidance. In this economy, you may be able to work out a deal to author an ongoing "Smart Finances" section - aim high!

6. Fish where the fish are

Focus your budget on your existing customers, there are fewer hurdles - so it's the smart spend.

• Focus on customers with only 2 or 3 products: Single service customers are likely single service for a reason - build the relationship with those that have multiple, but few products.
• Look at depositors with no loans - especially mortgages. Don't reprice existing, but try to get customers with other institutions mortgages to refinance with you.
• What about depositors with no checking: Get them to view you as their primary financial institution.
• What unused HELOC balances are out there?  Go get 'em.

For at least the next six months or so, we will have to work a little harder to maximize our budgets. You don't necessarily have to spend a lot to gain a lot - you just need to be creative, utilize your entire staff and have fun.

Take care,

Eric