By Frank J. Diekmann
Sitting on a flight recently the person next to me made the kind of statement that any true-blue credit union apostle believes should cause the plane to fall from the sky––this person was not only a Bank of America customer, she was very satisfied with the relationship.
“Well, I hope you hit your call button and brought this fool’s decision to the immediate attention of the flight attendants so that a public announcement could be made. And then asked to change seats,” at least a few of you are responding.
But I didn’t. Instead, I listened as my seatmate described the “excellent” service, the branch staff’s professionalism and the relationships they had built with her and her business, not to mention how much she liked the fact there are branches all over the country, even though she primarily uses the BofA mobile app.
If you’re still thinking that only some sort of CU apostate would share this story, then you’re making the same mistake I heard being made again and again while sitting through several weeks of CU conferences recently. The mistake: That it’s a You’re Either For Us or Against Us World, and there ain’t nuthin’ to be learned from the other side.
In fact, it’s most often a Shades of Gray World (and I don’t mean the books) and there is often much to be learned from the other side (again, not referring to the books).
Bank of America is a good example. While BofA has been so fortunate it could almost list as an asset on its balance sheet that rival Wells Fargo has become the stand-in punching bag for big bad banks, it has also quietly moved to reposition itself. While many in CUs are too busy being self-righteous to ever learn anything from the competition, the competition is happy to get down from its horse and learn from credit unions.
Take BofA’s latest initiative. It is looking to change its image from that of a megabank to a “trusted financial coach” for its 66-million customers (which represents about half the total membership of all U.S. credit unions).
Sounds Familiar
It’s a positioning that will sound awfully familiar to many in the credit union community, which has long sought to have members and consumers see it as a trusted advisor.
For years, the second-biggest U.S. lender has steadily released new digital capabilities, from updated banking apps to electronic payments and a virtual assistant named Erica, according to CNBC.
“Now, it's preparing to unveil something that ties together these innovations. It's called Life Plan, and its Bank of America's bet at securing decades' worth of loyalty from its customers,” stated CNBC.
The product, due for release in the Fall, is a digital portal that helps users work toward goals like buying a home or saving for retirement.
A “Life Plan.” Sounds an awful lot like the reason CUs were formed. “Decades’ worth of loyalty.” Hmmm, sounds mighty similar to what I hear from credit unions. “Digital portal?” Sounds like the speaker-speak heard at every CU event when it comes to talking about the future.
Take Off The Headphones
You can put on your noise-cancelling headphones the next time the person (or bankers) next to you talks about something you might not want to hear, or you can take them off and embrace the noise by listening intently to what they are saying and learn something. And when that person/banker is indirectly making clear they see a huge advantage in something you’re likely taking for granted, it’s time to hit your own management call button, get the staff together, and do something about it.
Other Road Notes
Before closing, a couple of other travel notes:
I’ve used this space before to express my admiration and general wonderment over how flight attendants keep from losing it, spending long days in close quarters inside silver tubes with the kinds of clueless winners it would be nice if TSA (for Too Stupid for Airplanes) would stop before they ever board. Big Pharma takes a lot of criticism, and for good reason, but whatever they’re distributing to flight attendants is working.
Take this actual, overheard conversation from a recent flight:
Flight attendant: May I get you anything, ma’am? I have water or coffee.
Woman: Do you have orange juice?
Flight attendant: No, ma’am, it’s just water or coffee on today’s flight.
Woman: Do you have a Diet Coke?
Really, how at that point do you not remove your shoe and just crack that person over the head?
This Also Happened
On that same trip, in the catacombs of the Atlanta airport known as the “Transportation Mall,” a couple in front of me spotted the same thing I did lying on the floor: someone’s driver’s license. Which you kinda need when flying.
“Do you think we should just leave it there?” I heard the woman remark to her partner.
Yes, that’s a dandy idea, because I’m sure that person knows right where it is and is headed back for it now.
Because Saving a Few Hours Was the Goal, Right?
Finally, the world’s flight attendants can take some solace in knowing stupefying ignorance isn’t limited to just the skies.
Companies spend some big dollars to sponsor various events at credit union meetings. In exchange, they typically get to give a three-minute or so commercial pitch for their product or service to attendees. At one recent meeting a company had laid out the bucks to sponsor a lunch, among the bigger-ticket items available for sponsorship.
When the conference hosts invited a rep from the company to come forward prior to lunch being served to share their message, no one did. The podium was empty. Crickets chirped. An audience sat unsold to. After a pause, the conference emcee returned to announce the company reps had caught an early flight home to Memphis.
Brilliant! That’s like buying a booth space and not staffing it. But I’ll bet the company reps were pretty pleased with how savvy they were in getting home early.
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator-in-Chief at CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.infoor @FrankCUToday.