The Problem with Problems

Have you ever had a problem with a company’s product or service, and usually from a large one? Of course you have. We all have. That these problems exist is not novel, but we all remember the frustration of the event when the issue was not solved in the best possible way. This is a failure of brand.

Problems are brand opportunities. Huge brand experience opportunities. If you pass them by in this modern age of members (or consumers) having a voice that can traverse the web and possibly heard by millions, you have to listen and act differently.

Gone are the days that you could frustrate a small segment of your membership and it was an acceptable business practice, because the majority of your members were satisfied (or at least you thought so) with your offerings.

The main issue is how credit unions handle and solve their members’ problems and create brand value. It really just comes down to ownership and measurement. Apply these two elements and then have them tracked by the CEO. Oh, you think that the CEO is too busy to do this, I think not. A new approach can be implemented with the CEO only looking at a one issue a day. But why is he looking at that issue is the key to the whole system.

Ownership

Ever call a company and get your problem passed around? Let’s just call your problem a ‘ball’ for discussion purposes. The person who answers the phone is usually a lower level employee and their job is to solve it quickly or pass it on to someone who can. If your problem is too complex to solve quickly, your ball gets kicked to someone else down the field. If that person never receives it or if it should not have been kicked their way in the first place, then it’s not a real issue for the person who answered the call first, because it’s not his problem to begin with, and it doesn’t really belong to the person who got the ball, because they can’t solve it. Your ball is now in limbo, and no one is trying to get it to the goal. The goal being you having your problem solved.

This happens in many ways and at many opportunities in all organizations. Credit unions can enhance their already exceptional members’ service by having the person who answers the phone take ownership of the problem. That being said, it is like handing the problem over to them and it is now theirs. Imagine me calling up your credit union having discovered that the rate on my line of credit is for some reason 3 points above the rate that I agreed to when I signed the loan. What would happen?

I don’t know what would happen, but this is what should happen…

CU Problem Champion “Thanks Mr. Reed for explaining the problem. I will get to the bottom of this for you. This problem is mine now. Can I have your email so I can send you my complete contact information? You can contact me anytime if you have anymore info or want answers. I own this problem and won’t pass this on to anyone else. I may have others help me solve it, but it is mine. This will be my problem until it is solved or fully explained to you.”

Imagine what is going through my mind now. I just called you with an issue and now I am impressed that the person has taken ownership and has shown empathy for the issue as if they were the person with the problem. They are trying to solve the problem like it was theirs, because now it is.

How you make this happen, will no doubt require changes in your organization. The first most important change you will have to make is that the first, that’s right, the first person who answers the phone is empowered to champion problems and cannot hand them off to anyone else. If you pick up the phone, and there is a problem, it is yours. Tag, you are it. Your job is now to get the ball to the goal using all the resources, knowledge and passion to solve the problem.

You think this approach is too expensive. I say if your organization has more problems than people who can take ownership of them, then you should cancel all of your advertising and take that money to hire more Problem Champions. Cancel your communications, public relations and product development expenses if you need more.

Do you know how hard it is for a marketer to tell you that you shouldn’t spend any money on advertising? Because if the experience of the brand is frustration, then there is no use in bringing in more members so you can frustrate them. Focus on solving your problems first, both by making less of them happen and by quickly solving the ones that do occur. Doing this will be better than any advertising you are doing. Remember, ‘Word-of-Mouth’ is the new power in branding. It is more important to solve a problem than it is to tell people about your new best thing. Why? Well, you can see how our staff handles problems here and the results of doing it right. Practice what you preach.

I think the bonuses of the Problem Champions should only be based on how many, how quickly and how satisfied the members were with the resolutions. Problem Champions should get big, big bonuses and it should be one of the better paid jobs in the credit union.

Measurement

In this day and age with our advanced computers and software, we can track everything. What we measure is more important than how much we measure. You want to have a successful company with a great brand? Then measure, track and actively record problem resolutions. Start from the first phone call up to the final resolution, and here is a little hint, the problem is solved when the member thinks it’s solved.

How should you measure? This is what I would like to see.

Every morning the CEO opens his computer, the only thing that shows up on his screen is the report from yesterday tracking people still having problems with his company. People having an issue with what he is leading. If I was the CEO, I would want to know what my members are having problems with. Can I look into them all? Well no, of course not. But he can look into one personally. Do one problem audit every day. Which one? Well, I think it should be the one that has been the issue the longest. The one that has yet to be resolved from the very first call.

What should you be tracking? Track the number of resolutions and the length of time they have been in the queue. These two simple metrics will work wonders for your credit union. The average CEO doesn’t even have the slightest idea how many issues his members have with his credit union and how long they have had these issues. These numbers need to continually trend down – if you are not improving, you better be close to perfect. Are you close to perfect? Is that what your members are telling you?

So, the CEO has a graph in front of him telling how many problems there are and what the average number of days are that it takes to solve problems with his/her organization. And the CEO has access to the complete file for the one problem that has been in the queue the longest.

What does the CEO have access to? Well, I would start with a recording of the first phone call and every call made on the issue since. They would have access to all the following correspondences pertaining to and resulting from the issue. Obviously, this issue needs its’ wheels greased, and if you get a call from your CEO at 8:30 am I would hope you have answers as to why the problem is not yet solved. I’m sure that the CEO can get you the assistance you need to solve that problem. If the Problem Champion is having an issue getting the problem solved, have the CEO ask why they weren’t given the information, or action that was required to solve the issue. As the CEO walks through the problem with the Problem Champion, we’ll see how many of those roadblocks to the solution are quickly resolved. Who wants the CEO calling them asking what the problem is with getting the problem solved? If it was me, I don’t want that call – so I’m gonna make sure that I help solve problems and solve them quickly for the Problem Champions, because they have a powerful friend that really cares about the brand experience of the credit union.

I think you will be amazed how quickly all problems begin to be solved all around you. People will begin to comment about how many problems they prevented, how quickly they solved them and how happy the members were by the result of their commitment and passion that travels all the way up the chain to the CEO.

Do this for every problem, every problem, from the smallest to the largest. Any issue that a member made you aware of is an issue worth tracking.

The Unsolvable Problem

I’m sure their will be people whose problem you cannot solve. But have you made every effort to do so? Or have you tried very hard to explain why the issue can’t be resolved to their satisfaction? Will your CEO accept and understand your explanation when it hits the top of his list? This should be your guide because the phone call is coming.

Enough is Enough

The Asian Tsunami, Katrina, and Now Haiti

Help me understand, please. I can’t be the only one with this idea. It’s not possible and the reason it’s not possible, is because it’s too simple of an idea to be novel and unique to just me. It has been done many, many times before with a multitude of other goals in mind.

The idea is this: why aren’t we bombing Haiti, or to be more specific, cluster bombing Haiti… with relief and aid? You remember cluster bombing don’t you, our little friend from World War II? This is a process designed to give you maximum distribution of your desired delivery item… Too bad it has been explosives in past cases. But tell me, what is stopping us from cluster bombing water, food packets and tents? I’m really not sure. What scares me most is that I may be the only one who is thinking of using this for good. When I Googled “Cluster Bombing Aid” and “Cluster Bombing Food,” I came up with a grand total of zero search results.

I can’t remember the last time Google had nothing for me. I have put some pretty crazy stuff in there and she has always come back with something. This time she has nothing for me, and sadly, nothing for Haiti.

Here is the really sad state of affairs (the part that makes me want to cry): if any major government or world power (have your pick – I won’t pick on the U.S. here because they are all guilty of this), for some insane reason wanted every Haitian dead, they’d all have been dead weeks ago. Sad, but true.

Why is it that we have systems ready and designed to inflict mass harm on a nation at a moment’s notice, but we don’t have a system to rapidly deploy mass aid? Are we really a civil and just society? Somewhere, Trudeau is crying. I think I might just join him. Believe me, a more perfect state would be gearing up to cluster bomb aid where and when it was needed. Hey Trudeau, I miss you and could really use your help on this one. Maybe Justin is listening.

Why bomb aid? First of all, you don’t need local runways, roads, fuel, security, personnel or any other of the myriad of items that are required for a successful ground operation. All you need is air and the Haitians have plenty of that.

Trying to get “people on the ground” is a hard problem to solve. You should only do it if you really need the people. If the problem is lack of stuff (name any stuff they need), then you should cluster bomb that stuff.  I know that doctors are needed and same with security personnel. They probably need accountants too… Please take some of ours; we have too many.

I’m not talking about dropping large pallets of supplies out the back of large military aircraft. The key is not to drop anything that requires breaking bulk in any way and that draws crowds to a single point to access what they need. Drop individual items over wide areas. Watch this video and imagine us dropping vast quantities of aid items from a patrolling plane over vast areas of a disaster area:

Small Parchutes – Big Solution

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You know what the one thing you need for a riot? The absolute requirement that no riot can live without? No, not discontented people and no, not agitators (but they certainly help). What you need more than anything else is a concentration of people. You know what brings angry, tired, frustrated and panicked people together? Aid stations. When there are delays from trying to get needed items and a perceived shortage, which leads to riots.

We need these little parachutes, and billions of them. They should be sitting in a warehouse somewhere ready to be used at a moment’s notice. Hey Hasbro, can you help? Keep the toy soldier; we’ve had enough war.

Keep cluster bombing until they say, “Stop. Please stop! We have enough!” This should solve your distribution problems. In reality, the collection of the parachutes should be your problem. We could easily place a small return fee for them and they would pour back in.

If you drop food, shelter and water, people will no longer have to worry about these three basics and will have the time and attention to go about helping themselves out of their mess. Not to say that we shouldn’t help, but I’m quite sure they would love to chip in with their own recovery efforts.

Remember folks, we’ve had this problem before. We’ve dropped items before that we wanted to be distributed widely and that no one on the ground could restrict and control. Remember the propaganda posters that scattered about for maximum distribution during previous wars? It worked, right? Now, let’s do the same thing with aid.

The problem with aid is we think big and act small. We need to think small and then act big. Put together a bunch of small tiny packages and then deliver them in a big way.

When someone starts a charity that does this, I will make the first donation for $1,000. You know where to find me. When the next disaster strikes, all I should hear are jets overhead and then (and only then) will we truly have glowing hearts. Only then will our society have proven its capability to rise to the occasion and show that we value all life.

I have to apologize. I thought that I would only be posting ideas for credit unions to use here, but this one goes way beyond that.

What makes a good idea even better is when you think it’s yours, so please feel free to steal this one and make it your own. Send it to your Member of Parliament, your Senator, your Governor, your Prime Minister, your Red Cross coordinator and the Oxfam people. Send it to anyone who you think can help make it a reality or raise awareness on this important issue. Please make this idea viral because I’m sure it can save lives. Improve it and get it to where it needs to be heard and explained, where it can have an effect.

Thank you.

Make the Move …. Green & Easy

Make the Move Green & Easy

Here’s a green idea that you can easily get in place for the busy spring moving season. You’ve got ample time, so there’s no excuse.

Credit Unions are a key center of members’ lives and are well aware of when they’re moving. So what can a member-focused organization do about it? Well, you could do the standard update of their members’ contact info, maybe even send them a ‘welcome to the new neighbourhood’ card.

I think we can do so much more. What exactly? Well, here’s an idea. Make the move easy and green for them and get credit along the way. I’m sure the banks aren’t doing this, so it will be a key point of differentiation for your credit union and show them you are much more than a standard financial institution. Dare to be different, it’s the only thing that will get you noticed.

What will it take? Why don’t you try this? Offer your members use of your green moving boxes at no charge. Brand them so everybody knows that your credit union helped them move and reap the rewards of being a true friend, because everyone knows, only your friends will help you move. This is what being a credit union is all about. Help them move and they will remember you for it. Make sure you brand every box with your logo, you tagline, and your web address as well as a statement like “At Member Credit Union, we help you move, does your bank do this?”

Here is a manufacturer:  Bin Supplier

A great green alternative for your members

You may be able to find one closer to home, and they are going for anywhere from $10 – $25 a pop and a dolly goes for about $60 each. So, for what I think would be a $2,500 investment per branch (giving you about 100 boxes per move) you can easily get yourself a great re-occurring community assistance and awareness program.

Make sure to advertise the program through your branch network, your website, press releases, community newspaper connections, Facebook®, twitter feeds and any other method you have available to you. Hopefully, you’ll get positive response from your generosity through the community, both in real life and online.

Try this and let me know how it goes. I think this a sure win for credit unions.

The Apple Store is a refreshing experience in the world of retail. For those of you that haven’t had the chance to experience it, I feel a tad sorry for you. They are staffed by true ‘Experts’ and are both inviting and relaxing. This coming from a man who really doesn’t like shopping.

So where do Credit Unions fit in? Well, I think when you truly understand branding and know that it goes way beyond marketing and that the brand is really affected by the quality of service delivered by your front line staff.

So you can follow the same route as Apple and be highly selective in your selection of employees and put them through rigorous training … or you can do what I do … I steal them. I haven’t stolen staff from Apple, not yet anyways, but 90% of my staff have been stolen from others, and by others I mean other departments, other companies, and even former companies (sorry about that guys).

Most of the people I have stolen weren’t even trained in marketing. I hire for attitude and train for aptitude. Believe me, it is much easier this way. Give me an employee with the right attitude and I can teach them anything, well, anything I know and the really good ones train themselves.

But to absolutely have a great brand, you have to have great people. So either build them yourself, or steal them. But leave mine alone, I got a great team. Go get some of those Apple folks, I know they would love what Credit Unions are all about. Let me know how it goes.