We’ve all heard the overused cliche’, “Outside the Box Thinking”. People are praised and promoted for such thinking. Many equate “outside the box” with “innovative” thinking. What’s also interesting about this thinking is that most of it is exactly that… Thinking, and not Doing. We’ve all been in the 3-hour blue sky meetings where we hear a vast array of great ideas, only to have the next 3-hour meeting a month later talking about the same ideas we’re still thinking about. Thinking about it doesn’t change anything, other than giving some an odd sense of accomplishment.
Here’s the point… Real innovation is “Inside the Box”. What’s so innovative about it? Most are just thinking, What if? How come? Why don’t we?… Very few are actually doing the basics. Inside the Box doing, becomes innovative because no one else is doing it. When you begin doing the basics and focus in the box, positive results begin to show on the bottom line and in the customer and employee experience. The irony is that now you start becoming know as “outside the box” and an innovator, when all the while you were just taking care of the, what’s in the box.
What’s in the box? Here are a few examples we see all the time. If you’re honest about it, there’s a 90% chance you’ll see these same things being neglected in your own department or organization.
- Phone Skills – 95% of the banks we phone shop do a poor job of this most basic task. Too many employees view the phone as an interruption instead of an opportunity. Too many banks don’t want to be shopped or if they are shopped, make excuses for the poor performance.
- Attitudes – Too many employees are allowed to come to work in a less than professional mood. This should be a non-negotiable. One negative attitude will infect the entire team. If you can’t smile, go home.
- Communication – Another non-negotiable that too many banks negotiate. Follow the chain-of-command, share and receive openly, weed out gossip. These are just a few of the communication pitfalls that will doom a bank. No one wants to go to a bank where gossip flourishes.
- First Impressions – Burnt light fixtures, dirty floors, cigarette butts near the entrance, unkept landscaping, poor signage, no smiles. Step back and really look at what surrounds you.
- Word of Mouth Marketing – Everyone is getting word of mouth marketing. Just make sure your marketing is being received from your advocates and not your detractors.
Don’t make building and growing your bank, your team or department any more complicated than it needs to be. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to find that silver bullet of an idea or going back to the tired ideas that never really work such as customer call parties and so-called customer appreciation days. They may make you feel like you did something special but the bottom-line will tell a different story. Get in the box, work in it, make it remarkable and then get noticed outside the box.
