Banking And Customer Service: Sales Advice Needed
For the last several days, I’ve been going back and forth with a reader who says she’s an operations manager for a bank and has 10 branches reporting to her.
I feel like she was looking for someone to write a new book and base it on the religion she wanted to start.
You know the kind: ” Here’s my opinion, find some data to back me up. We’re going to do it like this, because we want to, not because the data suggests that the customers want it. “
I’m not a koolaid drinker, nor do I blow smoke up people’s asses very well, I just tell the truth, sell the product and move on.
It’s really that simple and you know I like simple.
But I’ve been wrong before and maybe I am again. I feel like this method assumes that “everyone” is their customer.
When I walk in a bank, all I want to do is accomplish my task, be it deposit, withdrawal, etc.
If I want to talk to anyone about further services, I’ll make an appointment and talk to their expert, not a teller, who could have started just yesterday.
I don’t like being treated like a captive and have them hold my receipt or cash while I listen to a spiel that I didn’t ask for, while the other customers in line grumble about it taking so long.
The questions of the day are below. I need your honest opinion and any suggestions, so the next time I have to deal with a banker, I’ll be able to point them towards this post and not have to find data to back up their desires.
1) Do you believe a bank is an institution or a business ?
2) Do you feel comfortable waiting in line behind another customer while a teller tries to sell them more services ?
3) Do you think this method of marketing their services will be effective ?
4) Do you trust bank tellers to give you solid financial advice ?
5) Do you go into your bank to perform a service or to be sold new products ?
Please add any comments, answers or thoughts below and I’d really appreciate your taking time to answer.
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6 Responses to “Banking And Customer Service: Sales Advice Needed”
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1) A combination of institution and business, but the local branch bank is ultimately just a conduit. I go to CommerceBank in NY/NJ because they have nearby locations and are open seven days a week, including generous Saturday and Sunday hours. But I prefer ING Direct for long-term savings, since 4.5% is a lot better than 0.25% or less at the local branch bank.
2) I prefer to avoid tellers, doing most transactions at the ATM or in my online banking account. Since I discovered I can reliably deposit checks or cash at the ATM (and buy stamps from the machine!), I only talk with tellers if I need a roll of coins or have some sort of complex transaction.
3) People aren’t in the mood to be pitched. If I’m at the bank on my lunch break, I just want to get things done and get back to the office. How about opening more windows? I’m sure the tellers who aren’t at active windows are doing some other work, but I wish they wouldn’t just stand there while I’m the 12th person in line and only a couple windows are open.
4) No, I don’t trust bank tellers for financial advice. Why would I ask someone making $10 an hour, when I could hire a Certified Financial Planner for a few hours to work entirely on my behalf?
5) I’m definitely at the bank to accomplish the transaction. The only new service I want to hear is that they, too, now offer 4.5% savings accounts, or that they’re going to be open for even longer hours, or that they’ll give me free concierge services. I already have a mortgage, already have insurance, and don’t want to hear about some undifferentiated service offering. But yes, I’ll take the lollipop and the free pen.
Hey there Mike,
I have a lot to say on this particular topic, being a recent escapee from the banking industry, so first off let me answer your 5 questions.
1.) Banks are businesses. No question about it.
2.) I hate lines. The longer (in time or people), the more hatred I harbor.
3.) Tellers-as-marketers will work in a very limited set of situations. So limited, it would not be worth the training time/money of the bank to show tellers how to market new products.
4.) Do I trust the financial advise of tellers? No.
5.) The only reason I go into a bank is to find out about a new service. However, let be very clear here, I never go to the teller line. When I need to do a transactions, I use an ATM. When I need a new service, I go to the platform (bank lingo for the non-teller desks out front).
Now for my rant, bear with me as I will try to stay on topic.
I have worked for three banks in my career, on the corporate admin side, and know a little about their operation. I have been through some basic management training (not for branch manager’s, just back-end) and know about GLBA, regulations A-Z, “Know your customer” policies, and the tremoundous amount of responsibility a teller has in detecting and fighting fraud (and terrorist funding in recent years).
Teller’s are asked to do a lot to maintain a bank’s reputation, bottom-line, and provision of service. They are the face of the bank. They are not the promotional force for the bank. 98% of the people who interact with tellers are already customers. The other two percent are potential customers who didn’t see the “New Accounts” desk, and can be easily redirected to it.
Teller’s are the transactional force of the bank. Their job is to take money, give out money, and say “Thanks for coming in, see you soon.” However, the marketing departments don’t see it that way. They see tellers as a mini sales-force. They see a ton of face-to-face interactions on a daily basis and say “Damn, let’s capitilaze on that, yo!”
I have a noticed a trend in the marketing departments of banks where they don’t differentiate their selling tactics between new customers (people opening a new account) and current customers (those with accounts). New customers are willing to listen to the person they are talking to about their banking options because that is what they came in for.
Current customer’s can come in for new services as well, but they sure as hell don’t go wait in line to ask a teller. They go straight to the person at the platform, or if no one is there, they go to the platform and wait.
My guidelines for marketing to current customer’s:
1.) DO NOT increase the customer’s wait time.
2.) A well-designed poster communicates new services/rate/promos faster and more effectively than any teller. If a customer is interested, they can ask.
3.) DO NOT increase the other customer’s wait time.
That’s all I have to say about that.
Hey Karl,
Thanks for joining in. I appreciate you taking time to help me out.
Come back soon.
Hi Aaron,
I really appreciate you taking time to write all of that and Iappreciate the honesty.
I agree with you, especially the part about marketing people trying to use tellers as sellers.
That shows a vast lack of knowledge on their part and that they care more about themselves than they do their customers, which will lead to not having customers.
You let one customer service oriented company in the banking industry and they will overtake these banks of today, which are run by beancounters who wouldn’t stoop to actual customer service if their ties and wingtips depended on it.
You’re absolutely right. There is a conflict of interest deeply integrated into today’s banking systems that will probably be there forever. Banks make money by handing out other people’s money. Loans are a bank’s bread and butter.
They want as much of your money as possible, and they want to tie it up for as long as possible (CD anyone?) so that they can make money off of your money. The more loans a bank has open, the higher their share-value gets, and the happier their stock-holders become. Those bean-counters see more value in loan holders than account holders.
We’re both right Aaron, but I doubt they’ll listen to customers telling them about customer service.
I rally appreciate you adding A LOT of info and backup to this post.
Here’s a quote I just had sent to me:
” This may seem simple, but you need to give customers what they want, not what you think they want. And, if you do this, people will keep coming back. ”
- John Ilhan