Knowing the Customer is 60% Technology and 40% Banker

My Dear Banker,

Amazon.com knows the 4 books I have read this summer and continues to send me related titles to buy. Do you know the 14 accounts I have at your bank, and have you ever thought of calling me even if it's to ask my mother's maiden name? Pick up your phone; there are eight more accounts you don't have.

Regards, A Very Good CustomerI think the Congress has done a good job, with no time wasted, in addressing the seriousness of banking reform. With a guy like Barney Frank at the helm, how could our country miss. He is the perfect legislator for the people. The job of establishing new rules is done. But I am personally a little uncomfortable that the execution phase of the correction process will be a long drawn-out one.

Remember, bankers move a lot slower than the Congress and government bureaucracies. It took 12 years for ATMs to gain wide acceptance. The Internet became a publicly available commercial resource 18 years ago, but it is not yet as universal a banking resource as the branch is. Check 21, the no-brainer of all new technologies and real money-saver, still isn't a one hundred percent deal. Customer Relationship Management never reached a level of prominence once bankers realized they had to change their culture to use it effectively. CIF, a 35-year-old technology, is still the primary resource used to identify a bank customer along with ALL her/his relationships. Banks use technology very well (I'd even say perfectly) to perform accounting operations. But in the marketing department, technology is a little-used resource.

Specifically, I believe bankers are still suffering from lack of customer differentiation. For example, the credit score is a widespread tool used negatively, to disqualify weak borrowers. What bankers don't have is a tool, which I call "merit score," to reward strong customers. During the meltdown period of 2008 and 2009, numerous examples were reported by the press regarding small business owners who lost or had their line-of-credit borrowing power reduced just because banks arbitrarily cut off all lending. The good borrowers and the defaulters were treated the same - like bad customers.

I know I'm fighting an uphill battle here because people will think of the political and social aspects of profiling, and react negatively to my plan for better banker/customer relations. But my interest as a consultant, analyst and fixer is quite innocent. I want to give 1) every bank customer the benefit of being known for their true value and future potential and 2) every bank the ability to really know the customer beyond the regulatory reasons in order to provide needed services as per the dynamics of "we're always here when you need us." No one has ever challenged the credit score as an invasive behind-your-back profiler which it is. I'm simply saying it's time for bankers to compile value attributes about a bank customer in order to reward the customer. Who could object to that noble goal?

And what better tools to do that for the masses than database software, applications software, secure networks and computers (mainframe, server and laptop). But like all good technologies, they can't make it on their own. A computer-based tool like this needs people.

Dear Bankers,

Technology knows who your best customers are. Pick up the phone and call them. Even though your sales skills leave something to be desred, they'll tell you what they want as long as they are addressing a real set of ears.

With your best interests in mind, A Banking Industry Cheerleader