Now that’s responsive customer care!

by. Joe Swatek

When your financial institution opens a new account, do you make contact with your new customer or member? How soon?

If a consumer has a problem or question, how quickly do you respond? Does your branch or back office staff follow up to see that the problem is solved or the question answered to the satisfaction of the consumer?

Compare your customer service response to an experience I had recently. On Sunday, I was in Omaha and shopped at one of the Omaha Steaks retail outlets. While the clerk waited on another customer, I filled out an entry form for a drawing held by the retailer. One of the blanks asked for my email address. Since I trust Omaha Steaks and welcome their sales and special offers, I didn’t mind giving them my email address.

That was around noon on Sunday. At 9:00, Monday morning, there was an email from Omaha Steaks. Not a spam-type promotion. It thanked me for my “recent purchase” and gave me a Reward Card code number that I can redeem for a future purchase in the store, online, or with a phone order.

Omaha Steaks has one of the best promotional programs I’ve seen and this latest example only solidifies my impressions.

How many other retailers, and that includes financial institutions, could respond to a weekend transaction early the next morning with a thank-you touch and a reward?

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