egyii blog

Private Bankers could do worse than taking a look at the hospitality industry for ideas about how to woo their clients back. Whereas bankers are experts at financial products and the business side of their work, they are less confident about the softer, human relations side. In contrast, hotel people are strong at meeting and greeting, while they are less confident about the business consequences of their actions. To succeed in any service business (or any business for that matter), we need a balance between people intelligence and business acumen.

Hoteliers can teach Private Bankers a lot about clients’ expectations and behaviour. They can also teach them how to create a memorable experience for their ‘guests’ so that they leave the bank feeling delighted. How many Relationship Managers in Private Banks prepare for their client meetings by saying to themselves, “I’m going to make sure my client has an experience he’ll never forget”?

Hotel staff are trained to be client-focused rather than product-focused. This means that they see every guest as a unique individual with special expectations and needs, whether in the type and location of the room or in the kind of help they need from the hotel staff. Each hotel employee learns the idiosynchrosies of their regular guests, and makes sure they find out the special requirements of one-off guests within minutes of greeting them. I fear that many bankers tend to lump their clients together in broad groupings in their minds, without understanding the need to understand the special individuality of each client.

It is amazing how a change in perception can create a change in behaviour. If bankers were to delete the image of ‘Private Banker’ from their self image and insert ‘Guest Relations Manager’, then their minds would produce a whole new set of ideas and priorities about client relationships. This simple step would enable them to move away from an obsession with explaining the benefits of financial products and instead focus on the special human connection needs of each client. Once this new approach leads to trust, then and only then will they find that they have a listening ear for their products.

Try it.

(Post edit: this concept applies to the overall service industry, including the restaurant business as Sharlyn Lauby states in her blog posting A Shout Out from hr bartender)

James Irvine, Team Egyii, Singapore