KQ Article

More today, less tomorrow
Dan Hill says that during difficult times, “the single most primal motivation is to defend our existence.” Research confirms that small businesses are no exception. Owners tend to work twice as hard trying to maintain existing company performance. This is human nature. When we risk losing what we have, we start to appreciate it. We stop obsessing on how things could be better.

We see such behavior all around. A neighbor who was toying with adding a deck to the house is now grateful for making the mortgage payments. A small business that recently considered a second facility is now content on improving the original location.

As trainers, we must educate staff on helping customers understand how your offering can help them protect and maintain what they have today. This will make them happy — both with themselves and your bank or credit union.

Here are two key ideas to impart to your front-facing staff during training:

• Talk about stability. Bankers are programmed to use forwardlooking buzzwords like “growth” and “rate of return” whenever possible. However, such words speak to yesterday’s primary concerns. Words like “maintain” and “consistent” should be used liberally instead. Also move away from old-school lead-in questions such as, “Where do you want to be in five years?”
• Highlight employee/customer tenure. Staff longevity breeds customer confidence. So does the long-term patronage of fellow customers or members. Spend some time training on ways to tactfully bring up the topic of tenure in conversation.

By training your staff to address the emotional concerns of customers, you will be adding another effective measure for building long-term loyalty. That is something we all can appreciate.

Want to stay on top of consumer behavioral trends? Here are some resources to help you keep a pulse on that customer vibe:

Robyn Waters - RW Trend

Iconoculture blog - Iconowatch

Mark McCarthy's blog - Grow the Business

_{© 2010 Mark McCarthy}