And Speaking of Customer Service

I just had an experience that put customer service (and some compliance) to the test. I went with my son to open a checking account. For the first time, I didn't have to be on the account. He has reached the legal age of majority - even though he does not now and probably will not ever have a majority vote in the family.

Anyway, by having reached his majority, he can now open a checking account in his name and his social security number while my only role is to stand by and give moral support. At least, that was the intent. But like any compliance ace, I couldn't help myself. Opening an account is such a great opportunity to ask loaded questions and to simultaneously demonstrate to my son that all this glorious knowledge that I have actually has some practical value. For example, I know how to open a checking account.

So here we are, seated in the bank lobby discussing checking account features and everything seems to be going swimmingly. I understand everything, ask the right questions, throw in one or two tough questions just for fun, and think that we are having such a quality moment of mother-son bonding.

My son chooses the cheapest checks - a selection I approve of wholeheartedly - and signs the signature card. And we leave the bank, me happy with the knowledge that my son has taken an important step in responsibility and adulthood and that I was there with him. We're in great shape.

We left the bank and got into the car. After several minutes my son said: "Wow! I didn't understand a thing she said." Then he started repeating words and phrases as though pulled out of a jumble sale. "At least ten days; no more than 20 somethings; overwhatsit; fees per transaction - or was it transactions per fees?"

Oops - this was reality checking in with the compliance ace. How could he not understand such a basic, clear, and simple transaction? What went wrong?

Well, for starters, he doesn't know what I know. It seemed clear to me, but it obviously wasn't clear to him. Our bank compliance lingo isn't easily understood. Also contributing to his mental check-out was the fact that my son expected to have trouble understanding what was going on. When the terminology got confusing, the kid zoned out and let me take over.

This situation illustrated to me how little people understand - or want to understand - of banking terminology. Excited as we may get by mastering terms such as "debit card", "money market deposit account", "transaction limitations", and the like, most people find it painfully boring.

But - when something goes wrong, the customer who zoned out during the account-opening process and never read the disclosures they were given gets mad not at themselves but at the bank. Is this fair? No. Is this human? Definitely.

So when we talk about compliance and customer service, we should be talking in the context of the customer. We will get nowhere with effective customer communications if we stay only in our own zone. The fundamental issue here is communication. Yes, we have mandatory disclosures that are supposed to inspire sudden knowledge in the brain of the consumer. But the truth is that the forms and printed disclosures really don't do the trick. Each individual banker does.

Customer service and the reputation of the bank is no better than each one of us. Just as a team of horses is no faster than the slowest horse, every bank employee that has customer contact represents the bank and has an opportunity to make or break the relationship with the customer. By paying more attention to the customer and less to ourselves, we'll do a better job.

Copyright © 1999 Compliance Action. Originally appeared in Compliance Action, Vol. 4, No. 8, 7/99