Extreme Personal Service at a Premium has Traditional Bankers Scratching their Heads

Approximately two years ago Nordstrom, Inc. opened Nordstrom Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nordstrom, Inc. Why the venture into banking? Could it be that Nordstrom, Inc. recognizes what many bankers have forgotten, or failed to realize: customers appreciate Extreme Personal Service at a premium.

If you've ever shopped at Nordstrom you've no doubt experienced the Extreme Personal Service that is synonymous with their name. Its quite easy to find a salesperson to assist you, except in the shoe department during a sale, and those salespeople are more than willing to bring you additional sizes, make style suggestions and offer advice to help you save money, at no additional charge. In fact, it's difficult to peruse the racks at Nordstrom without the soothing sounds of the Steinway in the background, or a smiling salesperson offering to assist you. This is a stark contrast to most banks, where tellers seem too preoccupied to offer a friendly greeting or identify you by anything other than your account number.

Right about now you may be thinking that the Nordstrom salespeople only provide Extreme Personal Service because it's a high-end store and shoppers tend to have lots of money, just like bankers probably offer such service to any customers with large accounts. In reality even the wealthiest of bank customers (think J.D. Powers) are often dissatisfied with the service they receive, primarily because there is seldom anyone on-site capable of addressing their immediate needs, and an employee usually has to open up a customer's account history before recognizing they have a large account-holder standing before them.

In fact, the lack of personal attention customers receive at their bank is one reason Internet banking has had such tremendous success. Sure its more convenient than getting in the car and driving to your local branch, but if a website is more user-friendly than the tellers you interact with why shouldn't people take advantage of the ability to do all their banking without having to speak to a rude or unaccommodating teller? Yet there are those out there who still prefer to do all their banking on-site, so how do they get the Extreme Personal Service they need and deserve? The answer: a community bank.

Most community banks are formed as a result of customer dissatisfaction with their current financial institution. They are appealing to the masses because they typically have decision-makers on site, and tellers actually get to know the customers through interaction during transactions or community involvement. They are also smaller and more nimble than large institutions, giving them the ability to react quickly to market indicators and adapt to changes in the industry, such as the growing number of Spanish-speaking customers that require Spanish-speaking tellers.

Banking is a cyclical industry - large banks feed off smaller banks as they grow. But small banks wouldn't emerge with the frequency they do if the large institutions employed bankers that recognized the need for Extreme Personal Service, including local decision-makers, commitment to the economic prosperity of the marketplace, and inherent right of the customer to receive these services at no additional charge.

Large institutions aren't going anywhere, and they'll continue to gobble up small community banks as they grow. But until these institutions recognize the customer's desire for Extreme Personal Service their customer retention rates will continue to drop as people make the move to a community bank that provides such service at a premium. And institutions like Nordstrom Bank will reap the benefits of their Extreme Personal Service while the large institutions will continue to struggle with the concept of offering such service to everyone, at (gasp) no additional charge. Traditional bankers need to ask themselves two questions; are they a Nordstrom Bank, and what would J.D. Power say if he walked into their branch?

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The Real Scrooge - How My Bank Ruined Christmas

A True Account of What Can Result When Bankers Don't Practice Extreme Customer Service

The magic of Christmas morning - anticipation - and the surprise of what awaits in those pretty packages under the tree. That moment all young children wait for…was I good; did he remember me?

Approximately a week before Christmas I purchased my grandson's Christmas gifts from both myself and "Santa," using my debit card to pay for the items. The card should have covered the cost of the gift itself, and the expedited shipping since I am a late shopper and didn't want to risk delays so close to the big day. Shortly after purchasing the gifts I traveled to Virginia to be with my grandson as he opened his many presents. Imagine my surprise when, upon my arrival, I learned that the gifts hadn't been delivered.

I began tracking the packages only to find out that the shipper could not verify the "ship to" address with the bank vs. the billing address. I immediately called the bank to rectify the problem only to learn that the bank's online program does not allow for a "ship to" address. In order for the gifts to be delivered I had to change the entire billing address information.

Now I'm not a customer that never has any contact with my bank, so I figured if they could verify whom I was my name, coupled with my account status, would enable the bank to release the funds. How wrong I was. My prior relationship with them meant nothing; the information on record didn't satisfy so as far as they were concerned the matter was mute.

I then called the shipper and asked if I tied the bank in on a three-way call could we try to resolve the issue. The bank again refused to in any way work through the fact that the system was not accommodating. I asked the banker how she would feel if her son or daughter did not receive their gifts due to the bank not releasing payment. There was no answer, and no offer to assist me further. The shipper did say they would contact their billing department and discuss this dilemma with the supervisors to acknowledge that they were on the phone with the customer and the bank trying to resolve the sad set of circumstances. But there was no way around it - the gifts would be late.

The dilemma left me to question whether circumstances would have been different with another institution, and how I, a banking consultant, could fall victim to doing business with an institution that didn't practice Extreme Personal Service. My grandson's Christmas was not as happy as it could have been, but fortunately for you I can spare you my fate. I can help you form your own institution, one that treats its customers with respect and goes the extra mile to provide the service you need and deserve.

I can help you start your own bank. Please complete a survey on this site or contact one of our representatives to learn more about our firm, our services, and how we can help you form a banking relationship that won't leave your children or grandchildren without presents on Christmas morning.