Becoming a Smart Marketer means becoming a Mind Reader

Do your own “market” research. You won’t get very far unless you are able to get inside the head of your customers, prospects and, don’t forget, your employees. You have some choices about this. Fortunately, there are simple ways to immerse yourself in your market’s mind. The internet has made this easy. If you have plenty of customers in your bank who are between 25 and 45, then the list below will work for you. (Different bank customer demographics might alter the list somewhat.)

How to divine the mind of your market: go here 40 minutes a day, two days a week:
Since it is your intuition that is often the final arbiter at the bank, it should be well informed. Fortunately, the web makes it easy to stay in touch with your market. For example, if your bank has a large segment of 25–45 adults, the links below will help you stay close. (If your market is older, say 45 and up, then you’ll need another list—and aarp.org will be a good place to start.)

• Wired.com
• New York Times
• LA Times Personal Finance section
• LA Times Technology blogs
• Entertainment Tonight Online
• Huffington Post

Next, you need to understand your competition, particularly the way they interact with customers online – including internet bill pay. You should open accounts with each of the banks on your list of competitors and use them. Compare them with your own set up.

• Wells Fargo
• Bank of America
• TD Bank
• First Bank, Troy
• BB&T
• ING Direct
• USAA (If you’re ex-military)

This close monitoring of the above may seem like an unnecessary intrusion on your schedule. But, nothing is further from the truth. It is something you should do yourself. You could delegate it, but you shouldn’t.

Next step in Mind Reading: design customer and employee “feedback systems”

It’s surprising how much you can learn when you ask questions and listen to the answers. Customers and employees know a lot about what’s happening in your bank: the good, the bad and the “you-know-what”. Here are some inexpensive ways to feed your mind-reading habit.

1. Lunch with the Suits. Invite some customers, particularly those in the 25–45 age group to come have lunch with senior management. Give them a little presentation about your bank and what your goals are – maybe three minutes, certainly no longer than five. Then ask them some questions about how they rank you with the competition. Ask them where you’ve been smart and where you were not so smart. Listen. Take notes.
2. This same idea works with employees. Every month, bring the suits and sit down with 8–10 employees and tell them about the bank and where you are going. Then ask them: are you happy here? What would be better for you? What do our customers know that they aren’t telling us?
3. Internet Surveys. Technology has made it easy and inexpensive to survey customers (and segments of customers) and employees. These technological tools can be up and running in a few days.
4. Management by Walking Around. You can learn a lot just by showing up. So, drop in, personally, on some of your best commercial customers (and bank employees) and see for yourself how things get done. (Yes, of course, an appointment might be good. But, you can always ask for one when you get there.) Look for ways you can make things better. Be prepared to listen well. Take notes.

Now that you’ve been immersing yourself in the mind of your market and employees, it’s time to become a fanatic about the customer experience. And, here is where it gets harder for a bank to execute.

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