Scenario

In today’s world, everyone is looking for the right “fix” for their business. Some examples of the fixes are:

The release of new products to fit the ‘mould” for today

Making price adjustments

Re-skilling the workforce to face today’s scenario

Or doing absolutely nothing…

All of these options have short to long term effects. So which option do we choose to make the most impact? Well doing absolutely nothing certainly stands on it own, so a combination of the others does makes the most sense.

But, if you were to prioritize, which one should be emphasized? I believe it should be your people, your front line. As your greatest asset, your client facing people can make the most memorable short, medium and long term impact in businesses.

So, from here on in, we will focus on your people.

This then leads to two big questions. Do we look at “short term” solutions and possibly sacrifice long term results? Or do we look at “medium to long term solutions” and sacrifice short term results?

These questions are not necessary. Why? Let’s build solutions for short, medium and long term results.

The Ultimate Problem

The problem is making the right decision in order to make the highest impact, and too many companies take the wrong perspective and make the wrong decision. What people think is the right decision for the solution is actually the short term, quick fix solution. Why are people choosing this route? Because it is the “easiest” option to implement and it is one that typically can be measured, so it appeases both management and shareholders as it (supposedly) brings in results now.

How are these employee based solutions implemented? Through:

Product and technical training

A new sales process or re-enforcement of an old process

Setting financial goals and measuring the behavioral targets to meet those goals (often done by micro managing)

But is the the best for the client? The one who is suffering the most? The one who actually pays the bills?

No.

Suggested Solutions

Financial organizations are “talking” trust, customer experience, customer centricity, client relationships and loyalty as the key solutions for the client, and therefore the solutions to many of the business problems. But very little is actually being done in these areas. It is all a lot of talk – blah blah blah marketing. Why? Because these require “soft skills” and are not “sexy.” Most businesses reach for “sexy” measurable fixes.

But because they are not “sexy” and mot measured, does this mean that you don’t get results?

No.

Let’s look at the facts. And let’s look at it holistically – in other words a programme that brings results across the  board.

Firstly, I suggest we take a realistic approach and look at how to deliver the right results. As Anthony Tjan, MD of The Cue Ball Group,  states “We too often focus on the desired financial performance target, rather than the inputs that drive those numbers…financial performance is a result, a by-product, a consequence of something else.”  Anthony  has written a very interesting approach to business results in his recent article in Harvard Business Publishing “The Fallacy of Financial Metrics.”

And now, let’s look at a few of the short, medium and long term results from implementing a few people focused programmes..

Loyalty. Loyalty programmes, which are a by product of client realtionships and customer expereince programmes, are very difficult to measure. The means of measurement would be similar to measuring soft skills training, in other words look at the numbers, the results. But numbers can be affected by too many variables (market swings, new product releases,  a change of the weather, Etc).

Frederick Reichold, who has made his entire 30+ year career studying customer loyalty, has measured loyalty and states in his book “The Ultimate Question,” that “A 5 percent increase in retention can equal to a twenty-five to one hundred percent increase in profitability.” Wow. What if the financial organizations had retianed more clients?

As for trust, trust is a hot topic now, from Harvard Business Review to Steven MR Covey. How do you measure trust? Again, very difficult but similar to how you would measure soft skills training and loyalty.

I recently asked Charles H. Green, of Trusted Advisor Associates and co-author of The Trusted Advisor (and a leader in the filed of trust and business) about how to respond to the constant request for short term solutions for immediate results. He responded by saying ” Short term results come from long term management. The best short term performance comes not from managing short term, but managing long term.” Enough said.

So, in summary, let’s re-adjust our attitude and look at employee/client focused programmes that can and do give a holistic solution- short, medium and long term. Although they may not be sexy, and can’t be measured with hard numbers, your greatest asset, your client facing people, can make the most memorable short, medium and long term impact in businesses by delivering upon these programmes. 

Let’s look at why the current economic fiasco happened in the first place. Wasn’t it a result of the push for immediate results? And what are we going to do, repeat what we have just done?

So forget the measurement. Focus on the client. Go with your gut.

For an abbreviated version, please see and download the following: Sizing Up Short to Long Term…

 Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

What happened to the old days when you walked around the corner to the local bank with your wad of cash or your cheque…walked in and were greeted by Norm the security guard….then greeted by Esther the receptionist …and then John the banker, who is your neighbor and child’s Godfather?

You sat around, chatted, had a cup of coffee and a curry puff..and actualy enjoyed being in the presence of people you liked and trusted.

In 1969 Chemical Bank in NY stated in its ad campaign: “On Sept. 2, our bank will open at 9:00 and never close again!”

That changed the world of banking.

This was the start of the faceless ATM we see everywhere today. It was the start of automation, which has led to technologies such as online internet banking and more.

Wow! Great concepts! 24 hour banking!…clients loved it..and what a great way to save money for the bank. Remove faces, remove overhead. But this does not work for everyone.

Some interesting statistics from Gallup on banking  preferences show that a high percentage of people still bank at a branch. They want to see faces.

Clearly, the banks need to re-look at how they interface with their clients on a day to day basis. It should be for the  ”convenience of the customer” not the “convenience of the bank.”

Isn’t it time for a change…back to the good ‘ol days?

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

Your front line, your client facing managers and relationship managers, are the best representation of your image.

You can spend millions of dollars on expensive, un- targeted, wasted advertising to “polish” your image but without your feet on the street knocking on the doors, you are wasting your time.

Your ties and coats and fancy office image can help, but it is not going to bring in the results.

If you are suffering with pain from a tarnished image, wipe off your poker face and belly up to the truth - go face to face with the client. Get your team motivated and confident so that you can stare at your client straight in the eye and re-establish that relationship.

Our research has shown us that banking clients have two main issues. One is portfolio performance (or wealth preservation in today’s interest) and the other is a trusting relationship with the institution and the relationship manager.

Blaming someone or looking for a solution from somebody will probably not work. As Thomas Friedman says “there is no pill  – not for this mess.”

Just get out there and do it. As the old Smith Barney ad said “earn money the old fashioned way.”

Kudos to Thomas Friedman in his always results oriented opinion editorials. Elvis Has Left the Mountain

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

The Old World of business may have been saying ‘customer first’ and ‘relationship management’, but the truth is that the approach to winning more business never really changed. Sales executives, relationship managers and leaders are still taught that the key to revenue growth lies in going through a ’scripted process’ that everyone can apply equally effectively. All you really have to do is find out your customer’s recognised and unrecognised needs, present your ‘tailored’ solution, and hey presto!

This approach to business growth is just one symptom of a general malaise where everyone is at the ‘front line’ (whether in product development, operations or sales) rushing to meet perceived customer needs. This rush to perform means that little real thought is given to other, possible underlying drivers of business success which ultimately determine whether these ’front line’ strategies will work. 

For example, a relationship manager in a bank will have been taught a set of behaviours that are predicted to lead to increased investments from customers. These behaviours will probably include questions to ask the customer, ways to gain agreement, and how to present a product solution. But these ‘front line’ behaviours only scratch the surface of the potential relationship between relationship manager and customer. And so the customer leaves the meeting feeling a bit deflated without knowing exactly why. Certainly, the meeting will have made no progress towards establishing trust.

Now is the time to move into the New World of business success and take a step back from this ‘front line’ thinking. Let’s not rush to be at the front pushing, pushing, pushing. Yes, targets are important, but businesses will never reach them from a position of desperation and impatience. It’s not about facts. Facts about what the customer wants. This is easy. No, today it’s about giving the customer what she wants from the very first second she lays eyes on you. These are not facts which can described. They are underlying drivers of human interaction which are working second by second in a dance as the relationship manager leads the customer through a melody of turn-taking. And there’s no end to this dance. It continues through the end of the meeting and into the conscious and unconscious thoughts of the customer all the while she is walking away and going about her business the next day and the next. And if you want to build a relationship of trust and loyalty, you had better make sure this dance continues on and on and on.

So much for ’scripted’ behaviour. If you don’t enter this dance as a unique individual with your own way of expressing yourself and your own personal way of responding to every tiny signal your customer sends you, then your authenticity will be lost and your customer will be left in neutral about you. And you’d better treat every customer as a unique individual too. No two dances can ever be the same. Each time you engage with a customer you embark on a journey of exploration and discovery. How exciting!

These are things that cannot easily be reported back to a department manager in a weekly submission. They are not easily listed and analysed. But they are the ‘back office’ of business success at the front line. It’s time that business leaders put more challenging thinking into their behaviours – that they stop and try to really understand what drives people, rather than relying on age-old prescriptions that come to them without any effort.

So, welcome to the New World of business. We’ll never regain our customers’ trust if we apply Old World thinking and practices. Those businesses that take a step back, have some patience, and look beneath the surface will find opportunity in abundance in today’s turbulence. Just pay attention to the human being  in human beings for a change, and watch the results roll in.