I had a friend call me today to ask where I bank. He knows I work in the banking industry and he thought I might refer him to someone. His current bank is a community bank in my hometown of 12,000 people. There are four other community banks in our town, a large national bank and a large regional bank. I bank at one of the other community banks. I know people at most of these banks and have done business at all but two of them. It’s a typical small town where it’s common to know people at all of the banks. Getting back to my friend, he wasn’t very pleased with the lack of service he was getting. He told me that maybe his expectations were too high. I told him that wasn’t the problem. He experiences an attitude of indifference from the employees at his bank and he says that they just don’t take the extra step to help. He basically feels his business is taken for granted. Now here’s the problem… when he asked which bank he should move to, my response was that it didn’t matter because they’re all about the same. I told him not to even do business with one of the banks I do business with and I told him the other bank I have accounts at would be no different than where he was. His final response was… as soon as he could find a bank that offered great service he was moving.
I’m wondering how many of your customers have been asked this same question by a friend. How many of those customers would respond like I did. If my bank were remarkable I would have referred my friend to them. By the way, he has a car loan, a home loan, a checking account and he is also a center of influence (a minister). He knows lots of people and he talks! If you’re not consistently getting customer referrals then it’s time to take a serious and honest look at the service you provide. It just might not be as good as you think it is. Don’t be that employee and don’t be that bank!
