Archive for the 'customers' Category

How banks can be pillars of the community in the 21st century

Posted October 17, 2006 * Comments(4)

Remember the end of It’s a Wonderful Life? The entire town came together to help Jimmy Stewart’s Building and Loan because he was a keystone of the community.

My town’s banker, Walter Deutsch (Unity Bank):

WalterDeutsch.jpg

This mythical age of banking may have never truly existed, but we seem to be moving further away. As banking moves online and credit scoring replaces reputation, banks sacrifice the human touch.

As community dissolves, banks lose. We are still highly trusted, but there are fewer places to apply that trust. Read more »

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Feeling Gouged?

Posted September 6, 2006 * Comments(1)

From the NYT, Diner Beware: Turisti Pay More in Roman Restaurants

It might be an extra 30 cents for an espresso, or a $5 tithe tacked onto a bottle of wine. It may even mean the substitution of lower grade ingredients. But the practice of charging tourists more does exist and is committed daily, even hourly. If executed properly, the turista will be none the wiser.

“You think you are being taken care of,” said Christian Boyle, a Londoner who has spent some months in Rome. Soon after arriving, she and some friends displayed fatal naïveté, when they were not sure what to order at a restaurant just off the Piazza del Popolo. “We couldn’t decide,’’ she said, “so the waiter said he would bring us some things to try.’’

“One thing kept arriving after another,” she said. Things were fine until “he charged us full price for all these little dishes that we thought we were just trying.”

People hate getting cheated.  Evolutionary psychologist Leda Cosmides built pretty cool experiments to demonstrate how good we are at finding cheaters.  Turns out, the human brain specifically evolved the ability to detect cheaters.

Which brings us to price gouging.

Read more »

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Soup to Nuts: Software

Posted July 9, 2006 * Comments(0)

Great companies take charge of the entire problem, soup to nuts. 

Our payroll provider takes care of a thousand little details, from making the right deductions to filing reports with the government to direct deposit.  And we’re happy to pay for this - they solve our entire payroll problem.

Customers pay for the simplest, best method to get results.  They look at their total problem, not just the piece we happen to cover.  If you want happy customers, look at the whole problem too. Read more »

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