Lee Iacocca once said "We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems."

Who in the finance industry hasn't faced problems in the past 4-5 years? But today, are we able to look back at these insoluble problems and see opportunities that were a result of these problems? Some of these issues we know were out of our hands but those issues that we could see, control and do something about were you able to find the answers? Have those problems and answers paved the path for your future? Were there lessons learned?

Problems are only situations or issues without answers. Find the answers & uncover your opportunities. Yours will be different than anyone else's.

Make it a great Friday.

Debbi

Planning for 2012 Planning

Here's a short video to help you prepare for 2012 planning.

See more Marketing Minutes here.

For much more information on planning for 2012 planning, join us for our

FREE Brown Bag Lunch on Friday, September 16 from 1:00 - 2:00 PM est.

An Open Letter to BankSimple

On January 18, you impressed me when Rachel Giuliani from BankSimple wrote an email to me unexpectedly asking me for my "loves, hates, quibbles, hopes and dreams" regarding my financial life. Her email seemed surprisingly personal coming from a bank I had signed up to be part of a beta test several months earlier. In her letter, she piqued my interest when she told me she represented a 'new' bank that was committed to building the best possible customer service without surprises.

Her timing was great since I had been a bit upset with my current bank. Not only had my bank changed their fee structure without a clear notification, but they seemed to be looking for new ways to generate fees for actions I had become accustomed to not paying for. Sure, I could avoid the fees as I had in the past by maintaining a steady balance in my account, but even that had been raised to a level that really didn't correspond to the value I felt I was receiving from the bank.

You made it so easy for me to respond to Rachel's email since she even provided her email address (rachel@banksimple.com). And, as opposed to feeling like my response would end up in some black hole of customer service or would be responded to by a person not even named Rachel, it was easy to see that my new pen pal had been hired just a week earlier as the first of two customer service representatives to provide 'brilliant customer service'.

I was definitely impressed that almost immediately after a wrote my email to Rachel late at night, she responded within 10 minutes! I was falling in love with your bank even though it hadn't opened yet. I was so impressed that I immediately tweeted about my experience, spoke about my dialogue with Rachel at conferences, and posted a blog entry about my new friend from your bank on this site (A Little Note From Bank Simple, January 18, 2011). That blog post generated by far more traffic than any post I have done before or after. Talk about word of mouth marketing (WOMM)!

As with any new relationship, there were some of my friends (Ron Shevlin) who were naysayers. They said it I was getting my hopes up that the communication between Rachel and I would continue. They said that the proof of a good relationship is in the long term communication and caring, and not just a single series of emails. They said I was getting my hopes up that I had found a new bank and that I might be setting myself up for being disappointed.

I am starting to believe they were right. Not only has Rachel seemed to move on to other friends as your team has grown, but the promises of a great, new banking experience that she spoke of remain just a promise. Maybe my optimistic personality got the best of me again. Sure, your leader Josh Reich tells me about the fact that you have received a lot of new funding and that you have found new corporate partners in Visa, some banks and even TXVia. You even got my hopes up when you hired Alex Payne from Twitter. but it has been 6 months since Rachel last wrote and the only time I hear about BankSimple now is through traditional press releases and trade publication interviews.

Much like in the movie Jerry Maguire, where Renee Zellweger says that Tom Cruise 'had her at hello', you really had me at 'simple'. But now, there are other banks that are starting to look a lot like how you once looked. You have competition in existing banks like Ally, and ING where there are no fees, easy access and even interest on my accounts. You also have a new competitor coming down the road that is compared to you every time they talk to industry insiders. Brett King's MoveNBank seems to be looking for friends also, allowing me to be part of their beta group in 2012. There are some of my friends like Jim Bruene from NetBanker who wonder if MoveNBank may even 'outsimplify BankSimple.

So when is Rachel, Josh, Alex and the rest of your team going to let me see more than promises? I know you have moved to a new headquarters, but to say I am ready is an understatement. Since January, my old bank (yes, I switched once already) has raised fees and cut back the value they provide again, with many of the other large banks following suit thanks to Durbin and other pressures.

If you are not quite ready to let me kick the tires or take your bank for a ride around the block, the least you could do is have Rachel write me again and assume me that our potential relationship is still alive. Otherwise, I will consider the great communication 6 months ago a nice experience, but also another lesson that all banks are alike when it comes to customer service and promises. They love to tease you, but when it comes to delivering on a promise, they fall short.

Please write.

If not you, maybe some of my blog followers can either assure me that I should remain patient or that I should move on.

Banks Need to Make Love Not War

Over the last three days, leaders from the top banks across the country convened at the Barclays 2011 Global Financial Services Conference in New York to present investors with a review of results so far in 2011 and provide an outlook for 2012. Unlike the past two years, where this conference was dominated by bank presentations focused on TARP, credit risk, capital reserves and liquidity, this year's presentations highlighted the opportunity for organic growth and improving client's share of wallet.

For instance, Jim Rohr, Chairman and CEO of PNC Financial Services Group said that PNC will be focused on adding new customer relationships and cross-selling going forward. "If we cross-sell new clients, we'll see an almost $220 million increase," Rohr said during his presentation.

Similarly, Tim Sloan from Wells Fargo discussed significant opportunities that exist as a result of the integration of Wachovia. According to the presentation done by Sloan, there is a variance of an average of one product per household between legacy Wells Fargo (6.25) and the results from the Eastern footprint (5.29). He further illustrated that there is a variance of two products when legacy Wachovia is compared to the top Wells Fargo region (7.36).


When reviewing the presentations done by all of the top 20 banks, virtually every organization referenced their strong branch footprint and their focus on cross-selling and improving share of wallet going forward. Interestingly, only SunTrust referenced a focus on the retention of current customers (a drop of 8% in checking account closures between 6/30/11 and 6/30/10).

I am definitely a major proponent of cross-selling (see previous post: Seven Common Sense Ways to Increase Cross-Sales), but how do ALL of the leading banks think they are going to battle each other for a greater piece of the pie if the pie itself isn't getting any larger? Sure, it makes more sense to cross-sell existing customers as opposed to acquiring brand new ones, but isn't showing love and retaining current customers a viable path to growth as well?

Over the past year, I have visited most of the major banks in the country and still find that the first year new customer attrition ranges from roughly 25 percent to greater than 40 percent, usually based on the aggressiveness of a bank's acquisition efforts (the more aggressive banks usually have a higher level of attrition). Unfortunately, this is a number that most banks, as well as many marketing and product areas continue to ignore.

Before banks beat each other up trying to reach Wells Fargo's household cross-sell objective of 8 services, or move all of the budget that was spent in 2011 on acquisition into cross-sell initiatives, maybe more thought and money should be diverted to help make current customers feel better about their decision to open an account at your bank. Onboarding programs, customer satisfaction initiatives, customer engagement strategies, rewards programs and recapture triggers can all assist retention efforts.

At a time when most of the leading banks in the country are increasing fees and reducing some of the benefits that customers had come to expect and enjoy (rightly or wrongly), maybe we should focus more on sharing the love for their patronage as opposed to waging war on each other vying for a greater share of wallet.

Maybe next year's presentations at the Barclays Financial Services Conference will have more presentations around how many customers were saved in addition to how many were cross-sold.

I'd love to hear what you think.

Links to Barclays 2011 Global Financial Services Conference Investor Presentations:

Bank of America
BB&T
Capital One Bank
Chase
Huntington Bank
KeyBank
PNC
Regions Bank
Suntrust
TD Bank
U.S. Bank
Wells Fargo
Zions Bank

Best Laid Plans...

I spent the last 16 weeks logging more than 400 miles in preparation for an ultra marathon.

What's an ultra marathon, you ask? You know when you finish a "regular" marathon and you wish you could run more (read sarcastically)? An ultra takes care of that.

Anyway, aside from running a boat-load of miles, preparing for an ultra takes planning. I planned and practiced everything from pace, to running in a variety of conditions, to analyzing how I would fuel and hydrate before and during the race. I had run every step of the race in my head numerous times and was prepared for practically anything.

Then race day came...

Mother Nature has a disturbing sense of humor. The skies opened and the rains came ... non-stop ... tenaciously ... for more than 15 hours before my 31 mile trail race ... on dirty. Well, it was originally dirt! By race time, we were running in ankle to shin-deep mud and puddles (well, more like small ponds) that went to our knees. In the end, 16 weeks and more than 400 miles of training, preparing and planning were shot. No one could have prepared for this.

My banking point? As we begin to look at planning season for 2012, remember that planning is vital to feeling ready and confident. Planning will make you prepared for 90% of your upcoming efforts. But planning must be flexible. You never know what's going to be thrown at you on race day. A major employer in your market may close it's doors (or open them), your community may have a flood, your CEO may save a child from a burning building. Good or bad, your business environment can change as fast as my dirty trail turned into a mud bog. Be ready to roll with the changes.

Take care,

Eric

Wednesday...the count down!

Greetings!

It's Wednesday the 14th and the countdown is officially commencing...the ABA Marketing Conference is t-minus4 days!  For this year, the conference is in Baltimore-- an ideal location in a great city.

The agenda looks strong, the attendees list growing and the impact to planning for 2012 will be large!

Will you be there?

We hope to see you in Baltimore...

Cheers!

Bruce

Color's Role in Brand Marketing

When creating a marketing plan for a product or service, there are key priorities to consider ranging from competitive strengths, positioning statement, tagline, logo, and comparison with the competition. So, even though research has shown that color increases memory, how high is color on the list?

While color allows for a product’s or service’s brand to stand out from the competition, how do you decide what color is the best choice? Sure, you may prefer blue or red, but if the product is orange juice, clearly orange, yellow, or green might be a better choice. You need to decide which color best expresses the attributes of the brand as well as which color best reflects your brand’s message.

BLUE
The color of blue relays integrity, responsibility, intelligence, reliability, truth, and honesty. Light hues of blue convey peace, softness, and healing. Dark hues of blue convey stability, security, and expertise. Blue often communicates feelings of respect, honesty, and confidence. Some well-known logos featuring blue include: IBM, Ford, Citibank, VISA, Tiffany, Skype, General Motors, jetBlue, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Walmart, Nokia, Facebook, Twitter, and BlueCross/BlueShield.

GREEN
The color of green brings to mind environment, growth, re-birth, spring, and luck. Green often communicates feelings of relaxation, renewal, revival, freshness, and optimism. Some well-known logos featuring green include: Garnier Fructis hair care products, American Express, Starbucks, Green Giant vegetables, Whole Foods Market, Subway, Aer Lingus, L.L. Bean, Tropicana Orange Juice, and National Car Rental.

RED
The color of red brings to mind love, action, courage, determination and can also represent danger. Red often communicates feelings of boldness, passion, energy – and grabs attention. Some well-known logos featuring red include: Coca-Cola, Red Cross, Bank of America, Target, Verizon, Toyota, YouTube, McAfee, Marriott Hotels, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Lego, and Levi’s.

PURPLE

The color of purple brings to mind royalty, luxury, magic, mysticism, and inspiration. Purple often communicates feelings of luxury, spirituality, and authority. Some well-known logos featuring purple include: Yahoo!, FedEx, FedEx Ground, Los Angeles Lakers, WeddingChannel.com, Cadbury Chocolates, and Hawaiian Airlines.

PINK
The color of pink brings to mind youthful exuberance, fun, excitement. Pink often communicates feelings of vibrancy and friendship. Some well-known logos featuring pink include: Victoria’s Secret, Flirt dresses by Maggie Sottero, Pepto-Bismol, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and Mary Kay Cosmetics.

ORANGE
The color of orange brings to mind heat, competition, and productivity. Orange often communicates feelings of strength, determination, vitality, and energy. Some well-known logos featuring orange include: Simply Orange Juice Company, Nickelodeon, Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, Mozilla Firefox Internet browser, Amazon.com, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Tide laundry detergent, and The Home Depot.

YELLOW
The color of yellow brings to mind energy, sunshine, warmth, light, happiness, creativity, vision, and warning. Yellow often communicates feelings of creativity, optimism, warmth, vision, and happiness. Some well-known logos featuring yellow include: Hertz, Goodyear tires, Pennzoil, National Geographic, Ikea, Best Buy, Ferrari, Shell Oil, Yellow Pages, McDonald’s, Subway, Denny’s Restaurants, and In-N-Out Burger – as well as thousands of taxi cabs on streets throughout New York City. Since the eye sees yellow before any other color, there is no question why those cabs are yellow.

BROWN
The color of brown brings to mind rustic, earthy, and warm. Brown often communicates feelings of romanticism and durability. Some well-known logos featuring brown include: UPS, Gloria Jean’s Coffees, and Louis Vuitton handbags/attire/jewelry.

BLACK
Black brings to mind expensive products and has been known as “the absence of color” or “all colors.” It communicates feelings of power, drama, and sophistication.

WHITE
White brings to mind simplicity, cleanliness, and purity – and often catches the eye when it is used to highlight words or image outlines. It is used in hospitals and for health-related items and also for bridal gowns.

Research conducted by Xerox Corporation and International Communications Research from February to March 2003, found:

• 92% = Believe color presents an image of impressive quality.
• 90% = Believe color can assist in attracting new customers.
• 90% = Believe customers remember ads better when color is used.
• 81% = Believe color gives them a competitive edge.

So when selecting your brand’s color or colors, ask these key questions:

1. What color truly represents your brand’s personality?
2. What color suits the characteristics of your product or service?
3. What colors do your competitors use?