Financial
What do banking customers want now?
If you can, get a copy of “The Banks Mount A Charm Offensive” from November 17th’s Businessweek. According to author Burt Helm banks are working “behind the scenes” to “persuade people not to yank their cash and stuff it under the mattress.”
Banking institutions are coaching employees about how to directly answer uncomfortable questions posed by increasingly concerned customers. These customers are more educated now about issues like an institution’s capitalization and lending practices. They need to feel safe, and they are not shy about seeking answers to questions they would never have asked before.
As consumers demand ever greater transparency, it will be interesting to see how companies of all sizes will react. It may be that smaller, private companies will thrive in this environment. Instead of crafting carefully worded scripts, they will be able to spontaneously, directly, openly – even proactively – provide the kind of information that (re)builds trust.
