A bird’s eye view of your customer reality
Every single day for the past month a little bird has been pecking at the front door of my house. He’s actually pecking on a shiny metal plate attached to the door. It’s kind of funny because he’s doing this to his own reflection. The bird’s perception is that there is another bird looking at him. Or, maybe the perception is, it’s another bird coming onto his turf and he’s protecting it. Or, maybe he knows the reflection is of himself and he really likes the way he looks. Whatever the perception may be from the bird’s point of view, the reality of the situation is quite different. The bird is annoying me with the knocking noise. The bird is wasting a lot of time. The bird is pretty stupid. Then it hit me! This bird is behaving like many community banks and bankers we’ve come across over the years. Their perception of themselves is quite different than the reality of what their customers experience. Are you that bird?
Making lots of noise
Are you talking a good game but showing minimal results? Most community banks and bankers we speak to will tell you they offer the best service or they have the friendliest employees. Many even put brand statements on their websites and social media proclaiming how great they are… “Our Interest is You”, “Doing More”, or “Award-Winning Service”. The list could go on and on. Now, what’s the reality? How many customer referrals have you or your team received in the past 30 days? Do you even track it? Don’t just assume you’re getting customer referrals. Track it and know it. Have you conducted a telephone mystery shop on your bank? Don’t assume your customers are receiving a great experience on the phones. Track it and know it. The bird is making lots of noise and getting nowhere. Don’t be the bird!
Wasting lots of time
How many pointless and time consuming meetings are you attending this week? If you work in a bank, the odds are high that you’ve already been in a few meetings that lasted twice as long as they should have or that should have never taken place. An effective weekly team meeting should typically last about 20 to 30 minutes. One phrase we hear much too often is, “I don’t have time”. We all have the same amount of time each day. If you don’t have time, then you aren’t managing your time and you’re just choosing to do other things that you think are more important. Here’s the reality. Whatever is keeping you from taking time to manage your time is a waste of time. Doing paperwork or taking a lunch break during peak customer hours is a waste of time. Telling a customer about a product or service and not following up is a waste. If you’re not going to follow up, then save the time of even telling the customer about the product in the first place (this could also fit under the “stupid” category below). The bird is spending lots of time pecking on my door, accomplishing nothing. Don’t be the bird!
Just being stupid
I love the quote, “Just because you’ve always done it that way, doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly stupid.” I’m not sure about the intelligence of most birds, but I do know the bird at my door is stupid. Let’s face it, we’ve all done stupid things. If we’re honest about it as community bankers, we’ll admit there are some in our industry that are notoriously stupid. Here are a few stupid things we’ve seen…
- No outbound customer/prospect call program
- Incentive programs that pay for activity and not results.
- Negotiating rates with hot-money customers that have one service while, at the same time, giving loyal customers your lowest rates.
- Allowing loan officers to “just do loans” and not round out the entire banking relationship.
- and one of the all-time most stupid ideas… A free gift (toaster, blender, cheap tool kit) to your new customers, while the loyal customer gets nothing.
Some of these things will give a bank the perception they are great, while the reality to the customer tells an entirely different story. Don’t be the bird!
Don’t be the bird!
We’ve all been the bird at some point or other. Everyone makes mistakes. Just don’t become the mistake or convince yourself that what you’re doing is working without effectively measuring it’s success. If you’re not seeing steady growth in your core deposits and loans or if you don’t know how much growth there is, then you’re being the bird. If you’re not measuring the level of your customer service on a monthly basis, then you’re being the bird. If you’re not holding employees accountable to specific expectations, then you’re being the bird. If you haven’t set boundaries for your bank with clear non-negotiables, then you’re being the bird. If you’re constantly making excuses for your perception in the face of reality, then you’re being the bird. One last time… Don’t be the bird!
