Looks Matter

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Whenever I travel with my three daughters, I always insist they dress a certain way—matching and cute. And when I say cute, I mean Gymboree cute, not Justice cute.

My oldest, who is 9, has started to fight me on this. I tell her, “Things will go more smoothly if you are cute.” On days that I travel, I dress my children deliberately. I dress them in a way that signifies young, cute, and in need of assistance.

When I get to the airport with my two blonds and a redhead and they are in darling mode, people compliment us, they let us cut in line, they give us the pillow if there is only one, they hold my stuff if I have to tie a shoe. I’ve even had a man give my youngest his iPad all flight.

I’m not saying that getting preferential treatment based on looks is logical or right, but I’ve found it to be true time and time again.

So credit unions, what do you look like? Is your branch frumpy? Are your marketing materials messy? Or do you have a deliberate way of presenting yourself? Is your appearance consistent with your values?

I have visited a lot of branches, both of banks and credit unions and it amazes me how dumpy some financial institutions let themselves become. Below is an anonymous photo of a Seattle area bank I pulled off the Internet.

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