For some time, I've used a topic as simple as the modifying of bank fliers to illustrate a larger philosophical point about how we communicate with customers.
When speaking to front-line and branch manager groups, I often stress that "marketing" isn't simply a department, and they aren't uninvolved spectators in the game.
And some of the more effective marketing available to banks (and most businesses) is hand-to-hand marketing. This shouldn't be confused with the hand-to-hand combat that many sales approaches resemble.
In too many instances, even well-intentioned folks seem to treat customers like debating opponents who must be identified, engaged, and defeated.
While that description sounds pretty harsh, it's not as far-fetched as you'd think. Folks who have been drilled that their customer conversations should regularly include "probing for needs" and "overcoming objections" recognize the debate analogy.
But forcing someone to talk to you about a topic he'd just as soon not, and then winning the debate he didn't want to have in the first place, isn't exactly bedrock to build a strong relationship upon.
Conversely, hand-to-hand marketing can include everything from holding doors open for customers to shaking hands to giving out lollipops or balloons to their children to handing them bank fliers.
After listing those things, I often invite groups to play the old "One of these things is not like the other" game. On the surface, everything on the list but the bank flier appears to be a goodwill gesture to the customer.
That's because the typical bank flier is simply a (sometimes prettied-up) sheet of paper with information about the bank.
But with all due respect, reading up on bank products and services isn't exactly on folks' to-do lists today. Most folks treat it like being handed the resume of a stranger whom they aren't interested in hiring.
The simple suggestion I have made to bankers for years is to print lines on the backs of fliers. Doing so instantly turns a flier into a shopping list or note page. Others may choose to print calendars of events, coloring pages for kids, or even seasonal recipes on one side of their fliers.
This modification totally changes the dynamic of subsequent banker/customer interactions involving a flier. The same employee who may be shy about forcing bank ads into the hands of customers will usually happily offer a shopping list or calendar of events to them.
And the same customer who would usually avoid taking a marketing piece will readily accept (and thank you for) shopping lists, recipes, coloring pages for their children, etc. — happily "sponsored" by the bank on the back of the flier.
I then suggest to them that, sure, a flier redesign is pretty small potatoes in the overall scheme of things. But it's a simple, tangible example of the difference between communications being bank-focused and actually being customer-focused. And customers respond to the difference.
I ask them to put their other marketing efforts and personal conversations to that simple "flier test." Are their words and gestures to customers more likely to be perceived as primarily serving the customer's interest or the bank's?
While it may not be scientific enough to excite our more matrix-loving peers, there are two pretty simple observations to make in order to gauge where a branch's focus lies. The first is paying attention to who talks most in a branch. In conversations with our bankers, are customers doing more talking or listening (or pretending to be listening)?
When we get customers talking about themselves and their interests, we actually learn about what matters most to them. Plus, we make them feel important. And someone you make feel important is someone who will seek you out again in the future.
A second simple way to evaluate a culture is to take note of how often customers feel compelled to say "Thank you." Simple gestures — from holding doors to offering coffee to paying compliments — typically do the trick.
We strive to show customers each day that we are thankful for the opportunities they give us. Interestingly, it's when we are hearing thank-yous from them that our actions are most communicating that fact.
And those impressions tend to be some of the more influential marketing messages we can deliver.
What will your customers be telling you about or thanking you for today?
