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"I Can Handle That For You"
Wells Fargo Bank in California took a good look at what time was being spent on various activities in the banking office working with customers. What they learned led to a major change in the structure of each office and the duties of their staff.
The study examined a cross section of 125 small, large, urban, and suburban branch locations.
They learned platform personnel handled an average of eight customers a day. Five of the eight were service transactions, such as buying travelers checks or ordering personal checks. Three customers wanted to accomplish what was termed a non-service matter-such as opening a new account or purchasing a CD. Only one of the eight wanted to discuss anything as complex as a loan, a mortgage, or an investment.
In addition, they discovered that where the staff's time was spent was really determined by the customers who walked in.
For instance, the time it took to open a new account often depended on whether or not there were other customers waiting for attention. If it was a busy day, a checking account opening procedure took about ten minutes. If there was no "other-customers-waiting" pressure, however, office personnel spent extra time on good customer relations.
The people on the platform were, for the most part, good at asking for business. But the results were disappointing.
The study task force concluded that although the platform people had the skills and the marketing tools to develop new business, their day's chores were dictated by customers, rather than by their own design.
One of the first recommendations, therefore, was the need to remodel the platform, because the customers it targeted were not the affluent, upscale, small-business, residential mortgage, investment customers Wells was looking for. Two new groups of specialists were created to go after that customer base. They still work in the branch-but are completely independent of the walk-in customer, unless they are referred.
They then empowered all customer service employees and tellers to both sell and service. It required staff retraining to expand employee capabilities, but the results have been well worth the effort, they say.
The branch manager, according to Wells Fargo, runs a business much like the manager of a retail store. The branch manager no longer has any role in business development, but rather has an inside role, making the "store" as efficient as possible. The business development is done by the specialists.
Wells says they have raised the level of service to customers. And the new specialized groups are free to aggressively pursue new customers.
Copyright © 1995 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 5, No. 7, 3/95
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