International School of Management
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- Customer Acquisition – Branding Marketing
- Maine Savings Customer Acquisition and the Internet
- Target Marketing at Maine Savings
- Delivering World-Class Customer Service at Maine Savings
- Training for Customer Service at Maine Savings
- Important Elements of Customer Service That are Highlighted at Maine Savings
- Display the Right Attitude
| Part of becoming a truly customer-centric organization is the ability to think like a customer and anticipate their needs and wants. Maine Savings has created a customer users group in order to constantly assess the needs of their customers. In many cases, customers may not even know they would benefit from a certain financial product. This users group helps to identify these issues and proactively informs the organization’s customers of products that may be of benefit to them. The company also is constantly assessing the service channels of the organization and striving to improve the speed, efficiency, and overall quality in order to bolster customer satisfaction. Maine Savings strives to create value in every customer interaction no matter how brief or insignificant it may seem. Management understands the necessity to literally exist for the customer in order to truly be customer-centric.
Customer Acquisition – Branding & Marketing Customer acquisition and brand management are particularly important to Maine Savings because of the high level of competition in the financial services industry that exists in their marketplace. Not only does competition exist in the form of a physical competitor, but also from financial services organizations on the Internet. This inordinately high level of competition has resulted in a constant barrage of advertising and promotions that has left the consumer almost immune to effective acquisition and branding attempts. This has caused Maine Savings to become very strategic in the way that they market their services and products to potential customers in the marketplace. The organization has stayed away from the traditional white wash methods of advertising that include such mediums as television, radio, and newspapers. Although the company does use these outlets from time to time, it relies more on strategic alliances with well-known entities and robust promotions that create brand recognition. Some of these alliances and promotions will be examined in the following section of this paper. One of the more stark and important examples of a Maine Savings initiative in regard to branding can be found in the organization’s name change that took effect in 2001. Maine Savings was originally founded for the employees of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Company and was given the acronym name of BARCO (Bangor & Aroostook Co.). This name served the organization well until the 1990’s when a number of better-known competitors moved into the market. It was apparent to the CEO John Reed, that most people did not associate the name BARCO with a financial institution. To make matters worse, the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Company went bankrupt and was not an existing business entity any longer. Because of this, Mr. Reed recommended to the Board of Directors that the name be changed to Maine Savings, which was shortly thereafter executed. The organization now enjoys statewide recognition as a top performing financial institution. The Maine Savings brand is well know throughout the state and often sought after because of reputation and name recognition. Maine Savings is attempting to set itself apart from the competition by aligning itself with other well-known, highly recognized brands that already enjoy customer recognition and engender a spirit of loyalty. The best example of this can be found in the organization’s recent marketing agreement with the University of Maine athletics department. Maine Savings just recently signed a multi-year marketing agreement with the athletics department that makes it the “preferred financial institution” of Black Bear sports. In a state like Maine, where there are no professional sports teams, university athletics is a very visible and viable marketing tool. The Maine hockey team is a perennial national powerhouse that sells out every home game and garners a high rate of national television coverage, which in turn results in a great deal of exposure. In an effort to capitalize on this exposure, the organization, through its newly signed marketing agreement, is able to prominently display its logo, in conjunction with the Black Bear logo, in many highly populated areas. Maine Savings has signage on their skybox at Alfond Arena, signage behind each goal at the Alfond, signage behind both benches at the Alfond, an ATM in the lobby of the Alfond, and markets University of Maine clothing and merchandise at many of their branches. This effort has resulted in high visibility and added exposure for the organization, which in turn is resulting in customer growth. The primary reason for Maine Savings signing the marketing agreement is to increase the organizations exposure, and thereby increase its brand identity and awareness to current and potential customers. This strategic decision by the organization is proving successful in this regard. Every time the Maine Black Bear hockey team plays, a sold out arena of 6,000 plus fans and a television audience potentially numbering in the hundreds of thousands is able to see the Maine Savings logo numerous times during the game. In addition, the company sponsors different segments of the game so that in addition to seeing the company’s logo, a person also hears the company name. In terms of raw statistics, the alliance with the University should prove to be very lucrative. The University has more than 12,000 current students, but has hundreds of thousands of alumni. In the state of Maine, alumni and students alike are fiercely loyal to the University and its affiliate products. This was the primary reason that management decided the strategic marketing agreement would prove to be beneficial for the organization. The management of Maine Savings strives to create a unique brand recognition experience for the customer that distinguishes itself from the rest of the competition in the financial services industry. Many of the organizations competitors spend literally hundreds of thousands of dollars per year touting their services, rates, accessibility, and products. However, they all sound the same and none of them offer anything of distinct value or benefit. Maine Savings’ Senior Staff invests much time and effort to ensure that their organization does not fall into the same trap. The customer acquisition and brand management endeavors that the organization undertakes need to be unique in nature and in some way, differentiate the company from its competitors. The agreement with the University of Maine athletics department is a good example of this. Another example can be found in the proprietary products that Maine Savings is able to offer to their customers. For example, the organization recently developed a proprietary municipal banking product as a result of many inquiries from municipalities in the geographic area. The product, “Maine Savings Municipal Banking Services Program,” is unique to Maine Savings and is rapidly becoming recognized by municipalities as a product of choice for them. Although many other financial institutions in the area offer banking services to municipalities, none have bundled an attractive, convenient, and cost effective set of products and services as Maine Savings has done. This uniqueness and ability to customize proprietary products and services is quickly resulting in added brand recognition and increased customer acquisition. In the very recent past, it was not uncommon to find a customer that maintained several accounts at several different institutions for a variety of reasons. In these cases, brand identity is quickly eroded, as the customer feels the need to maintain these different accounts in order to satisfy different and particular needs. Maine Savings is aggressively attempting to establish their brand as being synonymous with “full-service” comprehensive banking products and services. This branding effort is proving successful at acquiring customers who had previously maintained different accounts at many different institutions. The organization is doing this by building its brand around consumer, business, and electronic product and service offerings. The name “Maine Savings” is rapidly coming to be known in the financial services marketplace as a one stop, full service financial institution of choice. Maine Savings Customer Acquisition and the Internet Typically, customer acquisition via the use of the Internet is reserved for national or large regional companies that can be accessed and viewed by large populations accessing a well known website. In the case of Maine Savings, it would be of no use to attempt acquiring customers by advertising on such websites as Amazon.com or Ebay. This does not mean however, that the organization cannot effectively use the Internet as a customer acquisition tool. The organization has been able to accomplish by advertising and maintaining a strong presence on the websites of large, well known, local organizations. The University of Maine website is the most important example of this. In addition to the University website, the company also maintains a presence on the websites of Liberty Check Systems and CUSO Mortgage Corporation. These are related vendor sites that serve to provide Maine Savings with exposure, but that also point potential customers to Maine Savings own website for the purpose of procuring products and services. Another area where the company has been successful at customer acquisition by using the Internet is with business customers. Business customers are a market unto themselves with specific and many times, unique requirements. For this reason, they are always looking for better services and products. Recognizing this, Maine Savings has created a “Commercial (business)” section on its website. This section is tailored specifically for business and commercial customers. This section of the website delineates the organization’s commercial products and services, as well as the pricing and benefits of using Maine Savings for these services. Maine Savings has been able to realize an increase in commercial customer acquisition as a result of this comprehensive information available on its website. Management has taken the time to listen to the needs and desires of its commercial customers and as a result, been able to address these on the company’s website in a comprehensive manner. The organization is constantly updating this section of its website in order to be proactive to the wishes of its commercial customer base, as well as potential commercial customers. Target Marketing at Maine Savings Maine Savings engages in a variety of target marketing activities, of which the aforementioned commercial services initiative is one of them. The organization is fortunate enough to have many large SEG’s (Select Employee Groups) from large companies in its operating area that provide a target marketing opportunity. A good example of this is the institution’s relationship with the Jackson Laboratories in Bar Harbor, Maine. The JAX Lab, as it is commonly referred to, employs approximately 2,000 people, most of which are not from Maine and many of which have unique financial needs. Some of these needs include customized student loans, foreign wire services, flexible card services, and non-standard loan parameters. Because of these needs, Maine Savings designed a program for the JAX Lab employees and markets these services and products directly to them. The offerings are so specifically tailored that they would not apply to any other potential customer base. This target marketing has resulted in the acquisition of greater than ninety percent of the entire JAX Lab employee base. An area that the organization has focused on in regard to target marketing for customer acquisition is related to acquisition through product differentiation, rather than through customer differentiation. Traditionally, target marketing refers to identifying a potential customer base and marketing to them accordingly. In the case of Maine Savings, they have identified certain product groups such as mortgages, insurance, and financial planning as the apex for target marketing. That is to say, potential customers seeking these products create a target marketing opportunity because of their specific product needs. As the potential customer contacts the organization in relation to one of these products or services, they are then marketed to based upon their need at the time. This type of target marketing has resulted in customer and product growth for Maine Savings. Once the specific need of the customer has been met, an entire relationship encompassing all of their financial service needs can then be established. Delivering World-Class Customer Service at Maine Savings As this paper has addressed previously, money and the services associated with managing money and finance has become a commodity. In essence, there are very few differences that exist between products and services offered by most financial services companies today. What is different however, is the level of service provided by these institutions while delivering the products and services required by the customer. Delivering world-class customer service is no longer a choice, but a determining factor in the going concern of a business, especially an industry so inundated with competition as the financial services industry. This fact is especially pertinent in the case of Maine Savings. The overall levels of competition have been discussed previously, but the company’s Ellsworth branch provides a stark and pertinent example of just how crowded the marketplace for financial services companies is. Within one mile of Maine Saving’s Ellsworth branch, there are nine other financial institutions, many of them far more established with a longer tenure in the area than Maine Savings, that all provide savings accounts, checking accounts, mortgages, commercial services, credit cards, and a variety of other financial services. What is it then that can set Maine Savings apart from these other institutions in order to become the customers’ PFI (Primary Financial Institution)? Maine Savings’ management understands that this differentiator must be the delivery of world-class service. Providing world-class customer service is at the nexus of everything that is done at Maine Savings. Every employee understands that the only way for Maine Savings to effectively compete in the marketplace and continue to grow is by providing its customers with the best possible customer service. In order to continue to provide world-class service, the management of the organization is continually looking for industry best practices to implement in order to bolster their level of customer service delivery. This is exhibited by the attendance of the CEO, John Reed and the Vice President of Human Resources & Training, Robert Carmichael at the Disney Customer Service Training Institute in February 2007. There are several steps involved in delivering world-class service that include defining “world-class”, training, setting expectations, follow-up, and constantly reviewing a customer service program. These steps will be examined in greater detail in the following analysis. It should be noted however, that Maine Savings Senior Executive Staff has made a commitment to world-class service delivery and continues to invest both time and money toward ensuring the success of this endeavor. Training for Customer Service at Maine Savings The financial services industry is much like any other service industry, whereas in most cases, it is the lowest paid, least experienced employees that are an organization’s direct interface to the customer. Maine Savings is no exception. Their Tellers, who are the least experienced as a whole, as well as the lowest compensated employees, are the face of the company to customers of the organization. For this reason, it is vital that these employees especially, be adequately trained on the different ways to deliver proper and meaningful customer service. To ensure that all employees receive proper customer service training, a formalized customer service-training program has been established at the company. Every employee, no matter what their position within the organization, is required to attend the initial customer service training as part of their employment orientation. Front-line employees like Tellers and Customer Service Representatives are required to attend more progressive customer service training classes on a regular basis throughout the year. These training sessions are designed by Robert Carmichael, the Vice President of Human Resources & Training and incorporate many industry “best practices” theories and methods. Maine Savings management constantly reinforces their belief that there is no substitute for lifelong, ongoing customer service training. Many employees come to the organization with ample amounts of previous customer service training, but Maine Savings insists on continuing customer service training in any case. In addition to their proprietary training programs, the organization uses other resources such as the state trade organization or customer service training programs sponsored by the national trade association. The company also participates in professional development seminars from time to time, as they are warranted. The biggest difference the company has made in recent years is to highlight the importance and priority of customer service training. Management has set training expectations and follows up on the results to ensure that the expected outcome of the training has taken place. Because employees know this, they take the initiative to strive to enhance their customer service skills through training and development opportunities whenever possible. A recent initiative in regard to customer service training at the organization that has proven very successful is the use of a customer service-training employee. This model leverages the particular customer service skills of an employee who has routinely excelled at delivering customer service by using them to teach other employees. In one particular case, a former Teller that constantly exceeded the expectations for customer service is now used to teach customer service skills in a one-on-one setting. This strategy has proven to be very effective, as well as cost efficient. Many employees that have had the benefit of this training offer positive feedback as to the effectiveness of this training. The Managers in the branches also provide positive feedback in regard to the employee’s performance after they assimilate back into the branches after having received this particular training. Because of the success of this training model, the organization is currently designing similar training programs in regard to other topics. Important Elements of Customer Service That are Highlighted at Maine Savings Maine Savings’ management attempts to take a comprehensive view of the customer service experience. However, certain very important elements are highlighted as part of the process. Together, these elements provide for a solid foundation for delivering the best possible customer service at Maine Savings. The organization has received a large volume of feedback from new customers that indicates positive word of mouth in regard to certain elements of customer service delivery are responsible for their patronage at the organization. Although this is not a comprehensive list, these elements do represent the major elements that are important to a customer that perceives a satisfying customer service experience. Be Accessible – Maine Savings customers expect, justifiably so, that they will have access to employees for questions and concerns, whether on the phone or in person. This element of customer service is constantly emphasized at Maine Savings. An effective strategy will set the stage and define minimum levels of accessibility for customer access. The expectations of accessibility are defined and taught to all employees of the organization. Employees understand that they can never be too busy to be accessible to customers. Maine Savings management considers and makes investments in the infrastructure that are necessary to provide accessible customer service. This may mean the addition of more people, redesigning physical facilities, or changing the hours of operation for the organization. It is understood by everyone in the organization, from the CEO on down, that whatever the initiative, the goal should be to allow for the maximum accessibility possible for the customer. Be Reliable – Reliability means keeping the promise you made to the customer and doing what you say you will do for the customer. Where this is concerned at Maine Savings, there is no higher priority than doing what one says they will do. Employees understand that promises are not only made directly and verbally, but through a myriad of delivery paths in various forms. The organization may make direct promises to customers through advertising and marketing materials, in company correspondence and contracts, and in service guarantees and policies published for everyone to see. In addition to these, customers of the organization hold the company to indirect commitments – promises that customers believe are implied in the way the company talks about itself, its products, and its services. The Senior Staff at Maine Savings constantly reinforces the belief that not keeping promises is one of the quickest ways to create a disgruntled, former customer. Display the Right Attitude – The training that employees at Maine Savings receive teach them that a person’s attitude colors the way they react to customers because it has a direct effect on what they hear and how they respond. It is not realistic to believe that everyone will be enthusiastic and have a great attitude all of the time, but employees at the organization are given that as a goal. Management reinforces the concept that if there are factors at work that are affecting an employee’s attitude, they should be discussed and resolved as soon as possible. Customers can and will sense this and will react and form opinions based on the attitudes of the employees that they encounter. Displaying the right attitude is important for everyone in the organization in pursuing an atmosphere that promotes great customer service. Accept Responsibility – Everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes by Maine Savings employees will happen. The key to rectifying a mistake is to be honest with the customer and to accept responsibility. Employees are taught that a mistake that is dealt with in a responsible manner, with a positive outcome, is nothing more than a good learning experience. The absolute best way to establish a sterling reputation as an organization is to be prepared to take responsibility for whatever decision you make. It is a matter of integrity, and it will earn you the respect of both the employees and customers of the organization (Scott 2001). Accepting responsibility also means being a team player and providing service to the customer on behalf of the entire organization. There can be no “it’s not my job.” The key to accepting responsibility at Maine Savings is that all employees must view themselves as being part of a bigger team, and all working toward the common goal of serving the customer. Pointing fingers or laying blame on another department or person is not tolerated, for any reason. Be Responsive – Employees at Maine Savings understand that timeliness is always an important part of delivering great customer service. The organization’s customers expect expedient resolutions to their questions and problems. A great example of the responsiveness of Maine Savings employees can be found in the company’s cards services department. On a regular basis, VISA sends the organization alerts that a certain string of cards has potentially been compromised. In this case, Maine Savings takes the proactive approach of personally calling each customer to discuss the issue and the resolution to the potential problem. Over and over again, customers respond very favorably to this proactive response and send letters of thank to the organization’s management staff. The company sees their responsiveness as a competitive advantage, where they can react more expediently than their competition. If Maine Savings is unable to be as responsive as their competitors, they understand that they run the risk of delivering undesirable customer service, or at worst, losing customers to the competition. Directory: uploads uploads -> 587 Return function, r i(X) r i(0) r i(1) r i(2) r i(3) 1 0 2 4 6 Thermal Station, I 2 0 1 5 6 3 0 3 5 6 10 uploads -> Department of science and humanities department of mathematics part-a questions and answers uploads -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? uploads -> For want of a nail uploads -> Ownership Models There are two different types of ownership models uploads -> Police Militarization uploads -> City of rising star regular meting thursday, july 14, 2016 uploads -> Township of winfield uploads -> Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 uploads -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program What We Want Now! Download 1.01 Mb. Share with your friends:
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