I think one of the purposes of this blog, and your education, is to learn a variety of viewpoints and understanding that there are often many solutions to the same problem. File this one under ‘broadening your horizons.”
I remembered an article in the International Herald Tribune about a bank choosing a design consulting firm to handle their expansion.
When Umpqua, a small community bank in southern Oregon, decided to move into the big-city market of Portland in 1998, its executives figured that they would need a change of strategy. They also figured that they would need help.
Instead of turning to a traditional management consulting firm, they hired ZIBA Design, a local firm with offices around the globe that specializes in industrial design and branding…
…When the firm assessed Umpqua’s identity and roots - by, among other things, observing customer behavior - it found that, contrary to prevailing market wisdom, customers did not want faster service. What they wanted was what Vossoughi calls “slow banking” - the ability to “take time to think about their financial future and feel relaxed, not just go and deposit money.” They also felt that reaching financial goals meant being able to savor the small things in life.
Which is why the new Umpqua branches provide free designer coffee and encourage customers to surf on the bank’s free Internet service. Bank employees go to the Ritz-Carlton hotel training school to improve their service skills, which are delivered from behind concierge-style desks.
Since the makeover, which cost $250,000 in design consulting fees, Umpqua has completed seven takeovers. With $4.8 billion in assets, up from $140 million in the mid-1980s, it claims to be the largest community bank on the U.S. West Coast. The bank’s stock has gone from $10 five years ago, before the stock market bubble burst, to $23 recently.
Rather than following the growth models that Bank of America and Wachovia were using, Umpqua chose customer experience over customer acquisition. The article gives a review of the major players in industrial design and some other success stories. One of the themes that emerges is business making a choice, low cost or high service.
On a similar note, Wired recently interviewed Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com. When asked about allocating advertising dollars to other functions, such as customer experience, he said this:
Is this a trend?
Yes, more and more money will go into making a great customer experience, and less will go into shouting about the service. Word of mouth is becoming more powerful. If you offer a great service, people find out.In the magazine world, we rely on ads. Should we be terrified?
I’m not saying that advertising is going away. But the balance is shifting. If today the successful recipe is to put 70 percent of your energy into shouting about your service and 30 percent into making it great, over the next 20 years I think that’s going to invert.
7 comments
1/24/2005 at 11:18 am
Robert
Thanks Josh. This is a fine example of thinking in new ways. The research aspect also serves to reinforce the need to start there in any campaign. Gotta know what the audience wants.
Great post.
1/24/2005 at 1:28 pm
Melanie
What an appealing idea. One of the big draws of PR for me is the attention to what makes customers happy. This trend of actually listening to the needs of a customer is sure to be mutually beneficial.
People are sensitive (and rightfully so!) about their hard earned/saved money.
I know that I hate nothing more than to have a bad experience at a bank… I start to question the ability of the establishment to take care of my money. If this trend catches on a nationwide scale, people will be happier customers and workers.
1/24/2005 at 5:17 pm
Ashley_m_c
This article is right on target! I think it is completely worth it to spend a litte more money making your company the kind of place people will be drawn to, instead of spending the minimum amount to make it work.
In the long run, companies that do this will most likely be more successful because people are usually willing to pay more for good customer service.
I worked at a high-end clothing store for about a year. We always had very regular customers because our service was very good. We knew what our customers liked and gave them personal attention to make sure they were completely satisfied with their purchases.
I think more than anything, people want to feel good about using any organization, whether it is a bank, a retail store or a supermarket. If the company gears their store and service towards the customers’ wants and needs, they will be more successful!
1/24/2005 at 10:04 pm
Jami
I am from a small town and the practice of emphasizing customer service has always been in effect because word of mouth can spread so quickly. This is a smart move for businesses today because of the new technologies that allow word of mouth to travel everywhere quickly. The extra advertising dollars will not help if the quality service doesn’t exsist.
1/25/2005 at 12:26 pm
Brooke p
I encourage this idea! I am also from a town where friendly service will beat high advertising and
other types of marketing for banking and other types of service. I would choose a service that knows
about me and what I am about over other comptetitors anyday. I hope that other businesses
are able to see how beneficial the quality of service is and re-think their business atmosphere.
In a world dominated by technology, I think people are beginning to look more for high
quality service to help them with their business decisions.
1/26/2005 at 3:56 pm
Karen
I definitely agree with everyone here. Customers are what make a business succeed. If you aren’t even thinking like a customer, then you won’t have any. I work for a prominent bank here in Alabama. People have their own opinions about the CEO of the bank (everyone from Auburn should know who I am talking about!) But after working here, I have learned that treating your customers and clients with respect is the only way you’ll profit. In fact, in our marketing department hangs a sign that says, “Work like a dog, think like a customer.” It then proceeds to give the definition of dog-man’s best friend. This always helps me to remember who I am marketing our products to. Simply put, treat others how you want to be treated.
1/30/2005 at 10:05 pm
Lindsay_J
Seeing as to how I ultimately want to end up in advertising, I found this post interesting. I do feel that there is a way to combine customer service and ads, though. You can target your ad/marketing campaign around qualities that the customer wants to see in a bank, store, etc. Rather than just push the products (”Buy this!”), I feel there is a way to make ads and campaigns that focus on the store and what it offers over the competition (”Shop here!”), such as the customer service and attention to detail that has been described in the post and preceeding comments. I think we can all agree that the minute that any type of commercial institution loses focus of customers, they are headed toward disaster.