Strategic plans for banks and credit unions are replete with references to their superior customer- or member-centricity. Nearly every financial institution says their competitive edge is their customer service. However, when everyone competes on the same thing – and they all claim to be the best – then the only logical conclusion is the vast majority are clearly wrong.
A large majority of banks claim they are customer-centric, even while competing with product-centric business strategies like focusing on rates and fees. Far too many banks today fail to define what customer centricity means, nor do they organize their business strategies around what customers truly want, even developing products or services customers have voiced little demand for.
When it comes to adjusting their strategy, banks have only a handful of options. They can revisit their strategy and define it differently to reflect a product-centric approach – i.e., lowest cost, unique or specialized products, etc. – or they could double-down on customer centricity and practice what they preach. Assuming they are insistent on customer centricity, what should banks do?
Read the full blog here.