Is Good Service Bad For The Bottom Line?
Richard X. Bove was a customer of Wachovia Bank when it was purchased by Wells Fargo during the 2008 financial crisis.
He noticed a different approach to service right away. Wachovia used to have a booth where a manager stood and greeted customers; Wells Fargo replaced the booth with a desk where an employee sold bank products.
Then Bove encountered a succession of less than helpful bank tellers, and obscure new monthly service fees. And the bank messed up his mortgage application.
Bove’s experience was not so different from what has happened to many other bank customers since the recent financial crisis. But his response was. Bove is a highly regarded bank analyst with the firm of Rochdale Securities. And he responded . . . by urging his readers to buy Wells Fargo stock.
“I’m struck by the fact that the service is so bad and yet the company is so good. Whatever it is that drives people to do business with a given bank, in my mind, now has to be rethought.”
The New York Times recently covered this story, under the headline: Be Nice? No, It Damages Bottom Line.
Is Bove really serious? The Times noted that “Mr Bove has a history of taking controversial positions in his research reports.”
Perhaps more telling is the fact that while Bove was upgrading his recommendation on Wells Fargo, he was also moving his personal bank accounts to JPMorgan Chase.
So, kidding aside, here’s the real story. You can’t sell products to people who aren’t willing to be your customers. Service and sales are not opposites, they are two sides of the same coin – the only coin that actually contributes to your bottom line.
How well is your company executing on your sales and service strategy? If you want to increase the contribution to your bottom line, please contact us for a free consultation.