Tag-line or promise?

When you are thinking up a tag-line for your business, take the time to do it properly. Too many companies pick tag-lines based on poor criteria and then wonder why their tag-line isn't universally known and accepted.

FNB (yes I'm picking on them again) have the tag-line, “How can we help you?”. On the surface this appears to be a good tag-line. It says that FNB is always trying to improve the customer experience, they are friendly and very helpful. The problem is that FNB doesn't appear to be committed to the tag-line, almost as if marketing came up with the catchy phrase but forget to tell the rest of FNB.

The problem with, “How can we help you?” is that they don't really want you to answer the question. Try it. Phone them and ask for help. When you visit the FNB website one of the things that catches your eye first is the tag-line blazed across the top of the page. Why isn't it clickable though? FNB and inviting customers to seek help and yet they aren't committed to making sure the channels of communication are open.

FNB are missing out on an amazing opportunity to become an amazing banking resource. If they took on their tag-line as a company wide mantra and everyone and everything became focused on providing help they will differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack at a massive pace. The number of unbanked in South Africa is astounding and FNB has an opportunity to create both physical and online resources dedicated to helping customers and potential customers. Unfortunately they didn't think beyond how cool the tag-line would look on a business card.

When you are thinking up your company tag-line make sure it is something that you are willing to stand behind. Make it a promise to your customers, a promise that you don't break.

... and it continues...

Writing about poor customer service is becoming rather boring, but every single day I see massive flaws in customer service. This morning I phoned Wesbank who provide finance for both my personal and company car. To verify that I was who I said I was the consultant on the phone asked me for my personal details which I duly provided.

However, the cell phone number they had on record had one digit listed incorrectly. Having had the same number for 8 years I doubt I gave the number incorrectly so I assume they must have entered it incorrectly somewhere along the line. Not a big problem though, we can change that very easily. Wrong!

Firstly the consultant told me that having the wrong number wasn't a big problem. Wrong again. What happens if someone from Wesbank needs to phone me? Then when I asked if we could fix the number quickly the consultant informed me that I would have to phone another number and speak to another consultant in order to fix a mistake that they made.

Some simple questions I would like Wesbank to answer:
1.Why doesn't your consultant have the ability to change my number on the spot?
2.Why do I have to go to the trouble of phoning another number?
3.Why doesn't the consultant take on that burden herself instead of leaving the burden with the customer?
4.Why can only a customer service agent provide customer service? Surely all of your employees should be able to provide customer service?

Needless to say I'm not going to phone again to get my number changed. The upside being that I won't be getting any sales calls from Wesbank on my cell phone.

The customer service gap

The combination of my customer service experiences over the last few weeks has made me realise just how big the gap is between expectations and delivery. South Africans are used to living in both a first and third world country (or developed and developing to be more PC). Unfortunately, this is the same gap that exits in service industry – consumers with first world expectations receiving third world service.

This problem is universal across all companies and all industries in South Africa. Even McDonalds which is a global company specialising in high service levels can't seem to be able to rise above merely mediocre service levels in SA. Why is this?

The rut. The American dream is something everyone understands. So what about the South African dream? The South African dream is something that exists for only a very few people – the rest seem to be stuck in the mindset of born-work-die. This is the rut and it's a massive part of the average South Africans daily reality. How will working harder make my life better? How will improving the service I give make me better off? Let's face it, it probably won't, but that's where the dream kicks in. If the South African dream existed – that anyone can make it big – then more people would focus on being the best each day, striving for that dream. Without the dream we are left with a population of people stuck in the rut, working in some service related job with no ambition what so ever to improve themselves or the service they deliver.

Much of the blame lies with the ever present income and education gap. Access to the internet with real time service delivery, global understanding and experience, the understanding of what is possible in the service world - all of this clashes heavily with the lack of education, no worldy experience, no internet access, and no dreams in the hearts and minds of the people tasked with giving good service. Hardly seems fair does it.

How do we solve this problem? I'm not entirely sure, but my best bet would be to begin the process of giving the service providers good service and start treating them like first class citizens. The more they understand and value receiving good service, the more empowered they are to give good service. It may be a small start, but it is a start.

The easy answer

Poor FNB just can't catch a break. I pick on them quite a bit because they are always so willing to show off their terribly flawed customer service.

My request, to me at least, seemed simple: allow my business accountant access to my online business banking without giving access to my personal accounts. I figured there were 2 options of how to do this:

1. Create a whole new account which has a separate login ID and password
2. Seeing as my accountant banks with FNB herself, that we can add my business account to her profile so that she sees it listed within her online accounts.

We asked the polite and friendly lady behind the counter which of the two options would be best. Not knowing the answer, she went off to ask the supervisor and quickly returned to tell us that we will have to create a whole new account (option 1). Still thinking that option 2 would be the easiest, I asked again if it we couldn't simply add to my accountants current FNB profile and the response was a rapid and decisive "NO".

So on we went with option 1 and were soon joined by the supervisor to help out our rapidly failing teller. We took 30 minutes to complete the relevant forms, signing in triplicate and initialing every page before the supervisor calmly mentioned that it would so much easier if my accountant had an FNB account. I immediately said that she does and the look on the supervisors face was priceless. "Well then all we have to do is add it to her profile." I almost exploded in the bank!

Breathe! Why would the teller so blankly answer NO to my question? Here is what I think:

1. She didn't care about my problem and didn't care if it got solved or not,
2. It was too much effort to go and ask her supervisor again, and
3. She was probably scared that she would look bad if she had to go ask again

In the end she perfectly succeeded in providing terrible service, upsetting a customer, confusing a simple situation, and letting herself and her employer down. To make matters worse, our teller was in the process of training a young teller. Is this honestly the kind of customer service she is training? My future dealings with FNB certainly seem dark indeed.

"NO" is too easy an answer and should be banned from the vocab of anyone in a customer facing position. There are so many better ways to deal with a question. Even questions that deserve a 'no' answer can be answered without using the word, and specifically not without a decent explanation.

Dear FNB, for the sake of everything that is decent in this world, sort yourselves out!

Thanks

Place your bets please

If you're ever going to bet the bank on someone, bet on yourself! Now that's a philosophy to live by.

The belief factor

When you can't sell something through facts, sell your belief. Your belief in something or someone, and it's associated passion, is more powerful than all the facts in the world. Yes the facts will definitely help, but belief is the bedrock.

Working in the media has given me some insight into the power of belief over anything else. My clients spokespeople who are true believers in what they do get significantly more media coverage than those simply towing the company line. It is as difficult to describe belief as it is easy to recognise it. The stronger the belief, the greater the media adoption of the spokespersons comment.

However, belief can't be faked or planned - it's either there or it isn't.

Another aspect of belief is belief in yourself, your ideas, or in people. It is always good to be able to convert belief in plans, but failing this, if you truly believe in something or someone then go with what you believe.

The miracle is in the detail

My world has been rocked – truly rocked. How is it that someone can so thoroughly disguise their lack of ability? No it's not even that. How can an apparently talented person make so many mistakes?

I must admit, I've been rocked over the last few days. The realisation hit home – never assume that someone gets something basic. No matter how 'apparently' intelligent the person is! Especially if the person appears intelligent!

I've been working on a training manual and testing out the manual has made me realise that I missed an entire section, “Things Crusoe assumed you would be able to do because they are so utterly basic” with an equally important subsection titled, “Really basic things you have forgotten already.”

The only explanation I have is that it is a lack of care. My effort levels are high because my motivations are high, but the same cannot simply be expected of an employee. Big mistakes don't bug me as much as little mistakes – ones that could have been avoided if you cared enough to simply just do it right. Making a big mistake in the persuit of big outcomes is acceptable because you will learn from it. Big mistakes shouldn't deter big ideas. However, making small mistakes by not taking the time to do things correctly is, to me, near inexcusable.

The reason is simple: the miracle is in the detail. Millions of people will tell you that it's the small things that count, and they count in two big areas. Firstly, people appreciate quality in the detail and its these small things often put one product or service a step ahead of the competitors. Secondly, it also happens to be the small things that will push people away. Why? Because not attending to the small things shows a lack of care and a lack of passion, and why would anyone want to willingly give their hard earned money to someone who doesn't care.

So the question is, how do you identify someone who has talent and a passion for detail?

The illusion of control

Control - the power to influence or direct people's behavior or course of events. This is somewhat contradictory. You cannot use the word influence to define control. To me, control is near absolute while influence has some flexibility.

I live in the PR world where big headed practitioners believe they can control the media. What a sad joke of an illusion that is. You cannot control the media, you can only feed it. The skill comes in your cooking, adding the correct ingredients and making sure it suits the taste of the person/publication/website that is doing the eating. A really good chef knows exactly what his customers tastes are and how they like their food served - if he doesn't he will lose his customers.

My advise is to drop the act and face the truth that your job is not to control the media but to influence it. If you get the recipe right and your influence is reflected in the media then you have done your job well. Any media outlet that succumbs to control is no longer an independent and reliable source of information and disqualifies itself as a worthy medium for your clients.

PR can be an honourable profession as long as you apply respect to all the facets of what you do and drop the act - you're good but you can't control it!

The difference between brand and logo

The difference between brand and a logo has been discussed beyond where any really sane discussion should ever go. The reason it's still discussed is because people still don't completely understand what constitutes a brand. Certain marketers (including myself) would say 'everything' - from the way you answer the phone to the colour of the product.

One of the most successful bands in popular music over the last 20 years is the band U2. The 4 members have been creating sounds for over two decades and they are still at the forefront of music. These 4 Irish dreamers have conquered the music world many times over, and Bono, through his aid work, is now reaching millions of people his music didn't. Every single person I know has a favourite U2 song, every single person has a memory linked to that song, an emotion that gets replayed to that song, many even sing along as though they were Bono himself. Every one of their hits over 20 years sounds like a U2 song, yet none of them sound the same. If you heard a new U2 song on the radio you would know it was them long before the DJ mentioned the bands name - it's in the way they make music.


U2 songs have been played at weddings, funerals, birthdays, holidays, concerts, night clubs, and dinner parties. The have sold millions upon millions of albums in hundreds of countries around the world! It's success piled upon success - really large buckets overflowing with success. All of this without having a logo.

Just keeping it real man

We live in the digital age, and what an astounding age it's turning out to be. The rate and ease of communication is mind boggling - I'm technically literate and it still amazes me that my brother and I can instant message each other in real time from opposite sides of the globe.

This mass communication has attracted the marketers who use these new rapid channels to push as much information as possible at everyone and anyone. There are successful campaigns but the majority is useless noise, millions of shards of data that bounce off your eyes but never make it to the brain.

The internet is becoming (if it isn't there already) the most powerful communications medium available. But how do we know what's real? Who do we trust? These aren't just internet related questions, consumers with money drawn have always asked these questions. It used to be that their network of people would provide the answers - classic word-of-mouth. As radio and television took off people had a new, higher voice they could listen to - that deep yet gently commanding voice in the advert on the radio or TV. But there was a problem brewing ..... that voice was a filthy liar!

The burger you get never looks as good as the one in the advert. Those pants looked great on the lady in the magazine but they make me look fat. That passenger is sitting in economy and smiling. Honey, the bloody TV is lying again!

And so the cynical consumer was born. The never trusting, always questioning customer. The marketers did this to themselves and it's their responsibility to now have to market to the cynical. But how do we know what's real? Who do we trust? The answer - they will trust what's real. Only companies that can show true value in real terms will cut through the cynicism. Deliver a real service, show real results, make a real difference to your customer and you will win. Don't airbrush your products, improve their durability. Don't promise the world, only what you can deliver. Tell your customers the truth. Keep it real!

FNB tackles crime - well almost

Sunday Times broke this story yesterday about First National Bank (FNB) backing down from a daring anti-crime campaign.

Much of the focus has been on government seeing it as an attack on the president, Thabo Mbeki, and how FNB buckled under the pressure from various interest groups. Yes they buckled under the pressure - of course they did. The South African government doesn't take kindly to criticism, and FNB realised that keeping their government accounts was more important than making a stand against crime.

Why FNB buckled raises a question: was the campaign designed to impact crime, or was it designed as a marketing "shock&horror" campaign with a flashing neon FNB logo?

I bank with FNB, and as their customer I feel quite proud that they at least attempted to make some noise about crime in SA. Even if it was designed as a marketing tool, the fight against crime is a worthy enough cause to be highlighted. I just wish they had followed through with the campaign because now they are only almost serious about crime.

Rather be hated than indifferent!

The high concept

An interesting blog post caught my eye about the idea of the high concept. The concept that any company marketing it's products or services should have a single, clear, understandable concept that easily articulates what is on offer, "communications around a high concept that can serve as the umbrella for an organisation"

From a PR point of view, the high concept is incredibly important in projecting a clear message. This helps because:

1. More than just the specialists in your industry can understand what you do
2. People that you reach can easily explain to others what you do (word of mouth)
3. By easily understanding what you do, potential customers can 'buy into' your offer faster and with less confusion

Sounds simple but it might not be. Can you create a high concept for your company? Describe in 6 words or less what you do in a way that any potential customer can understand. Mine is easy, "We achieve media coverage". Sure I would need more time to explain the benefits of media coverage, how we do it, where we truly add value - but pretty much anyone can understand and repeat those 4 words. If someone wants media coverage they will know who to phone.

(And before you relax too much, "we provide business solutions" doesn't count! Pencils are business solutions as well I'll have you know)

Certain companies choose not to define a high concept because it could haunt them in the future when they try to re-define their brand, or their services expand beyond a single industry. These companies use the 'business solutions' line in the hope that it will make sense, or they hand deliver a 50 page company overview when you ask what they do.

Corporations of this size generally have enough budget to market themselves without a high concept, but for the emerging companies trying to gain mind-share, defining your high concept is imperative.

It's news to me

A vital step in getting valuable media coverage for your company is knowing the difference between something that is big news in YOUR world and something that is big news in THE world.

The communication of news that is only big in your world should be limited to your company newsletter and blogs, but you shouldn't fill up journalists inbox's with articles that will simply be deleted.

Know what is newsworthy to the market and match that to a publication that carries this type of news and you will increase your chances of being published.