A New Account? I have Reports to do!

Have you been on either side of this conundrum? It’s amazingly clear how wrong it is, but when you are in the moment, you can be so burdened with tasks (Task Saturation) that if you were a pilot, the plane would go down.

Stop and ask yourself, and allow your team to do the same.  We have to give our staff the empowerment to use their judgement, and then back them up when they do right by it.

The specific scenario today goes like this:  A man walks in the bank, he tells the banker “I would like to open a new account” The banker looks perplexed, agitated and strikes a glare before she realizes what she’s done (too late).  Brings her facial expression to some sort of resolve, and says, “What kind of account?”   to which he says, “the Kind with $200,000 that earns an APY of 3.27% for 6 months, but Thank you, I see you are busy”  and he heads straight to the door.  (She was under stress because she has a report due.)

The Report? “How many Deposits were opened in the last quarter, and the effects of customer service on new account openings”

Wait! It gets better!

This particular Banker I am speaking of is WONDERFUL!  She is a lovely, personable person.  How could this happen, then?  I’ll tell you how.  The incredible desire she has to be seen as valuable in the eyes of her management, had her completely blind to the most important thing – NO – The ONLY thing we are there for.  To satisfy customers that will be willing to entrust their funds to us, so we can keep it safe and earn our livelihood. 

She was caring and brave enough to convey what happened to senior management.  Her manager contacted this person (how, I cannot tell you, I shudder to think that she actually ran out to his car, but, it could happen)

He was so bewildered by the most embarrassing move, that he actually came back and opened the account.  I was amazed that he did, but with fuel prices as they are, he probably figured another 2 miles to another bank.. etc etc.

Lesson learned – Let’s make sure we don’t saturate our customer-facing employees with internal pressures that may cause them to temporarily forget that the customer is #1.

 

 

 

 

Giving into the Big Banks, are we?

Do you remember that horrible prank bullies played on weaker kids where they would twist your arm until you shamefully cried “UNCLE, UNCLE !” .  

I just found an older post form The Bank Channel  which reminded me of that. 

Although insightful it brings to light issues in banking that make my head shake uncontrollably. 

Here is a quote from the first paragraph:

“Nearly 60% of customers of the 10 largest retail banks indicate high levels of satisfaction with their primary bank – but fewer than 40% of these same customers believe their banks meet their expectations of what a bank should do for them.”  (The rest of the post is here – it has lots of good areas and thoughts on where we can put our attention.)

I think this is the first time I have seen this phenomenon outside of government services, where the lack of customer satisfaction has beat the customers into submission and acceptance.  Sixty percent of the customers are satisfied but less than 40% of these feel their expectations are being met.  What? 

I wonder if we hold banks to a different standard? 

It’s possible, because if a car company were to mail my son the keys to a car he could not afford I would be much more upset than I am when he receives unsolicited credit cards he can’t afford.

Although the posting is quite interesting (Kudos to our friends at McKinsey), I wish they could have been a little less politically correct and called it like it is:  “Shame on you Mr. Big Bank, that you have convinced the consuming public that less than they expect is the best you could or should do.

“Sir, your branch does not accept customer calls” – Bank of America

Yesterday I arrived in Salt Lake City, after a three day trek from New Jersey with my son (Alex, 25) in a Penske Truck.  During the trip, while my son was driving, I took care of some last minute housekeeping issues with accounts, changes in address and all the related matters of moving. One of the issues at hand, required me to speak with my branch manager to see if there was any way she could help with difficulties in making a wire transfer.   I went on line to find the phone number for my branch.  When I called the number, I was greeted by a call center agent.  I explained that I had expected to get my branch and that I needed to speak with my branch manager.  She kindly explained that customer calls were being taken by the general call center.  In that case, I asked to be transferred to my branch manager, to which she replied she could not because all customer calls to the branch were being taken by the general call center.  I explained, that I needed to speak to my manager to see if there was any way she could assist me in making a wire transfer, quickly.  She explained that in order to do that I would need to go to the branch.  I once again asked for my branch’s telephone number, and hen she said it “Sir your branch does not accept customer calls – I cannot give you their number, especially in this busy season”.  I gave up. To some executive, who has not needed the help of a banker in the last 20 years, the process he/she has set in place is adequate, I’m sure.   But how is it that anyone in the business of taking CARE of people’s financial needs thinks it is remotely ok to create a situation where, you cannot speak with the person immediately in charge of taking care of your financial needs. My funds and banking activity will also be moving.