A Very Unusual Tell-A-Friend Campaign
Nobody sells better than a satisfied customer who isn’t shy and loves to talk.
Marketing folks refer to these people as “brand advocates.”
As a reminder, a brand advocate is a customer who actively promotes your brand or product without being paid to do so. These customers do this because of their ongoing positive experience with your brand.
A few banks leverage this grass-roots effort by providing customers with handy little sales tools.
A few days ago my spouse brought home a neat little item being used by a local bank to facilitate this “word of mouth” effort. It was given to her by one of her co-workers who had just returned from visiting her branch during the lunch hour.
The minute she walked through the front door last Thursday, my spouse proudly announced she had a surprise for a future blog. She knew I would be excited given how often we discuss banking blogging topics on our early morning walks before work.
She was correct – I was giddy about this particular sales tool. It is most unusual.
So who’s the bank behind this item?
Here’s a hint: This bank brags about being “The World’s Greatest Bank.”
Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, this bank has branches in Northern California, including several in the greater Sacramento area.
Here’s a front view of the bank’s current customer handout. As you can see by reading the copy, it’s from the innovative folks at Umpqua Bank.
When it comes to retail banking, senior management at Umpqua Bank marches to a much different drummer. In fact, very little of what they do is similar to what other banks and credit unions do. Given my long experience with consumer bank marketing, I would say they take a radical approach to banking…and I mean this in a very positive way.
The six-panel sales tool comes with a removable sleeve.
Note the copy on the back side of the sleeve. Customers are asked to “remove this handy little wrapper” before handing it out to friends, co-workers, and family members. Fortunately for me, my spouse’s co-worker did not remove the sleeve.
Here’s the front cover of the six-panel sales tool.
No need to open it to discover what’s inside. Copy on the front tells us we are being treated to 80% chocolate – “a sweet little incentive” to consider switching banks. This bit of teaser copy ensures 100% of the recipients will open this item. I guarantee my spouse did as you’ll discover a bit later.
Opening the front cover reveals two panels – the left-most panel of the inside spread and the back of one of the outside panels.
The headline on the left panel immediately acknowledges what most consumers are thinking when it comes to switching banks. The copy on both panels aims to soften resistance to consider exploring what may turn out to be a much better place to bank. Click on the image for easier reading
Now for the payoff – the middle inside panel.
Most consumers will see three chocolate coins wrapped in silver and green foil. Unfortunately, my spouse is a chocoholic and simply couldn’t resist eating two before bringing this home. She apologized while explaining that one should be sufficient to make the point. I disagreed but then remembered that you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Again, the brief bit of copy addresses the issue that considering changing banks is difficult.
Next is the right inside panel.
As you can see, it presents what appears to be a three-step process for moving your checking account to Umpqua Bank. But read carefully and you’ll discover it’s really a two-step process.
There you have it – what I consider to be another innovative marketing strategy from the Umpqua marketing team and its agency.
Most of you readers are probably aware that Umpqua Bank is an industry leader in branch design – having tested and implemented a variety of neighborhood branches over the past 12+ years.
And as you’ll discover if you’ve never taken a tour of the bank’s website here, everything about this bank is different – even the names used for its checking accounts.
They even have the audacity to call themselves “The World’s Greatest Bank.”
They may be right!
I agree that this presents a much more personal approach than the generic $100.00 offer in the mail to switch banks and the requirements one must adhere to so that they may secure that $100.00. What I think is lacking, however, in each and every bank’s effort to swoon customers is how they will aid in the transition. Many people may have automatic payments set up through their online banking, direct deposit, or another form of automatic transaction that requires some additional work on the consumer’s part to ensure a smooth transition. What if bank’s had the proper forms consumer’s could sign to delegate authority to their new banker to handle such tasks for them? The last thing I wish to have to do is work to give someone else my business. Bank’s who want my business should seek to make the transition as painless as possible and advocate their level of service from the inception of the relationship through taking the workload off of the consumer. Just some thoughts I had and felt that maybe I wasn’t the only one out there who felt this way.
You’re not the only person who feels this way, Laura. Most financial institutions have Switch Kits in their branches or online. Often, the branch staff ignores the kits and neglects to give them to new customers. There are also online versions of Switch Kits, but consumers are left to find those for themselves.
These kits are helpful because they give new customers the forms they need. They’re not helpful from the standpoint that the customers still have a lot of time-consuming work to do.
I recommend that financial institutions offer to use the Switch Kit forms to make the changes for their customers. They can even have a form that authorizes the financial institution to close the old account. That’s a convenience many consumers would welcome.
Financial marketers and administrators take note.