tJP

When you turn on your hot water tap at home how long does it take to become warm? It is typical in a kitchen for 2-3 litres to flow before it becomes warm, let alone hot. This water in the pipes between the outlet and the water heater is called “dead water”.

I was invited to write on the subject for is an independent, non-profit, collaborative think-tank built around an interactive discussion website hosted and moderated by Global Access Partners (GAP). It provides a platform for focused dialogue on Australian public policy and social issues.

The full article is available on the openforum site.

Here’s a great ‘pitch’ for a new bank solution.

In a previous entry I discussed why everyone needs to be part of the “marketing” effort. I am happy to exchange marketing for sales here - essentially all business is in the business of selling their products or services - and every member of staff has a role to play.

The rationale simply is that the brand and reputation of a company is built up by each and every transaction between the company, its staff and its customers, suppliers and partners. A bad experience will reduce brand equity and a good experience will increase it. Brand equity makes selling easier.

So HOW can you instill this in staff? I have reduced it to 5 things with the acronym BASIC

• Breakdown ’silos’ between departments
• Allow staff to take ownership of issues and to follow them through to the BITTER end
• Step into the customers shoes and view from their position - and LISTEN
• Inclusion on how their actions increase sales
• Courtesy to all

In a previous post I discussed that lack of differentiation within the Banking sector - they look the same, they benchmark each other and copy each other. Run by bankers and product people they essentially live with 99% failure rates on direct mail campaigns and are driven by strong personalities and analytics teams. What they don’t do is have a strong and differentiated position.

So I mused about what banks run by companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Woolworth’s, JB-Hifi, Harvey Norman and Vodafone might look like. Here’s some random ideas:

Google Bank - we tend to think of it being an advertising platform, but behind that is “the world’s biggest, fastest auction, a never-ending, automated, self-service version“as outlined in this excellent Wired magazine article. Google and eBay seem to have lots in common!

So if I imagine a bank that is run like an auction it might work like this: I have some spare money that I want to deposit in the bank and depending on my need to access the cash Google Bank would setup an auction for borrowers to bid. As in the advertising model if someone offered 10% but the second bidder maxed out at 7.44% then the winning bid would be 7.5%. If I am looking to borrow money like $200K for a new home and there are no lumps of money of that size then maybe the Bank could aggregate on my behalf.

What would be neat though is that you would always where the nearest ATM is on your android phone, the ATM would understand your preferences ( you always take out $100 on a friday night and its a default!), most services are FREE and there is huge product innovation that you can see, test and comment upon before it hits the market.

Apple Bank -As in Keith Lucas’ excellent article the Apple Bank would be cool, white with a ‘Financial Genius Bar’ with automatic links to your iPhone and beautiful design built into everything.

But you would need to compromise, Steve and his team know best! Customer service would be OK but not brilliant and you would not really get a vote on anything - and product would just arrive from the design labs - mainly hits but misses now and again. And as with all banks dominated by a single figurehead - things go astray when he’s away.

Microsoft Bank -  well this is getting a little closer to reality now, we have have ‘wallet’ and other such technologies come and go. Microsoft is a fast moving consumer good(fmcg) company that plies its trade in software. So there will be lots of market research, focus groups, consumer testing and a product for each of them. But this has a downside with brand proliferation as there are 4 different types of Windows 7 and 8 different packages to buy. There are some 16 different Office variants so it might get a little complex in the bank too?

 Woolworth’s Bank -the Australian food retailer with the “Fresh Food People” tag line is the power house of retailing with its’ eyes on the hardware industry. In banking what would it offer? I think it would really simplify the banking offers like it has done with its Everyday Mobile offers. A simple flat rate across all banking products, simple bundling and a great distribution network.

But this assumes that it would follow the Woolworths model, when it could end up like Dick Smith’s or BigW. At the end of the day as a retailer they would be expecting you to carry out self-service and so if you had any questions then it would probably not work(for me).

JB Hifi Bank -  the new retail success story of the last decade. Cheap prices, stores packed to the rafters with offers, reasonable staff and gaudy signs. If you liked the Apple Bank then don’t come here!

Harvey Norman Bank -  this is the franchised bank - a series of stores within a store. Pretty good service, at OK prices but not as cheap as you might expect. They already have a consumer lending arm in Flexirent and they would target the younger consumer who wants instant gratification.

As in all things HN, price could be negotiated and you would be led to the cash register by the sales guy who wanted to ensure they got their commission cheque.

Vodafone Bank - I originally though that these guys really would offer something different - then changed my mind. If it was Virgin then I could see some interesting differentiation, but I think Vodafone would be the same. Lots of marketers swap between banks and telcos due to their perceived consumer skills with large data sets.

But would it be any different? Maybe some better Mobile integration and maybe a ‘capped fees plans’ but not a whole lot different?

Comments welcome!