In my community there is a bank which attempts to market to the very high end of our local market. Their offices are richly appointed with quality rugs and furnishings. The art work on the wall is impeccable and appropriate for the community and all the signage and public documents are well designed and presented.
My wife, who owns her own successful business, banks there. She's the hard worker in our family so I often help her out by running errands, and assisting her in anyway I can. I am fortunate since I'm an early riser and often get my daily business chores done by noon or earlier. Today she asked me to make a deposit for her at the aforementioned bank.
I walked into the bank and as I walked up to the teller window I spied a table off in the corner of the lobby festooned with coffee cups and cookies. I must confess, I love cookies. A veritable Cookie Monster am I. So for the entire time I was in line and even while being serviced, I was thinking about those cookies.
What could be better? A beautiful day, I am in a prosperous banking institution, making a deposit (not a withdrawal) and I am about to conclude my successful visit with some wonderful cookies (who doesn't love cookies?) and perhaps a small cup of coffee. Maybe I should change banks myself?
I sauntered over to the table, my stomach growling in anticipation of the treat I was about to enjoy. I almost tripped over my own tongue as I approached the table.
As soon as I was within 3 feet of the table my whole attitude and enthusiasm for the bank changed. I was crushed, at a loss to describe my disappointment, as I looked at what my (actually my wife's) bank decided to present to me as an offering of their appreciation to their customers.
Instead of a beautiful plate of sumptuous cookies, I was staring in disbelief at a small mound of pitifully small and obliviously store bought cookies! Small, 2-3" dry looking lumps of grit, punctuated by smaller still, bits of what I could only assume was chocolate, although my imagination was supplying more disgusting and un-appealing solutions. My heart dropped as I realized that my earlier fantasy of cookie-bliss was literally turning to dust as I surveyed the dry lifeless offering before me.
These cookies were an embarrassment to the bank. I was tempted to take the table cloth and drape it over the cookies to shield others from the shame.
I love customers. I understand that all business is about satisfying customers. Successful businesses exist because of satisfied customers. I was not satisfied with the cookies they were offering. In fact, all of the good will and presence the bank had spent thousand of dollars on meant nothing to me in the face of the pitiful cookies. I couldn't see the beautiful wood paneling or the expensive plush rugs. I didn't care that they had gone to the trouble of coordinating the art or even the spotlessly clean condition of their lobby.
All I could see, all I could focus on was the measly cookies they put out. I definitely was not going to change banks. In fact, I was thinking of talking to my wife about changing her bank. Obviously this bank was NOT SINCERE in their attitudes towards their customers.
It's true that my response is an over reaction to a somewhat silly theme. But I cannot emphasize enough how important the small touches are to success in business and to having satisfied customers which you need to grow your business. Someone had made the decision that it would be adequate to just go buy an off-the-shelf bag of cookies. Not even bakery cookies, just some bag they picked up on the way in to work at the convenience store. Is that what they think of me? Of all their customers?
On the way out of the lobby, I shared my dismay with a nice functionary sitting at one of the desks. She shared with me that it had occurred to her to actually bake some cookies herself and maybe put a small note saying "Cookies handmade by Sheryl for your enjoyment".
That was the cookie I had wanted. It was the experience I wanted my bank to offer me. I wanted to sit in the affluent albeit friendly bank, munching on a moist, mouth-watering hand made cookie which I knew was made especially for me. I wanted my mouth to know the satisfaction my head had imagined as I had stood in line. I wanted a satisfying and sincere cookie offered to me.
Business needs to understand that every contact with customers is vital to continuing to build relationships and instill customer loyalty. Make sure your put your best cookie forward.
Robert Jameson, the Cashologist tm, is editor of CashologyJournal, which entertains and informs people about cash: How to earn it, save it, invest it, spend it and give it away. He has struggled and succeeded in the cash game and lives a modest life in beautiful Santa Barbara, California riding the cash flow wave and going to the beach almost daily. Twitter me @Cashologist or [http://www.CashologyJournal.com]
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