March 14th 2016 | Julia Becerra

Two things to keep in mind when running an errand at the bank.

• Choose your clothes carefully
• Do not expect to be treated as a client

The other day in a spring like weather my friend, who has his own Law practice, invited me to go for a walk in the neighborhood.  I was wearing jeans, a sweater on top of my t-shirt, sneakers and a baseball hat. He was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt, sweatpants and sneakers.   On the middle of our stroll he decided to stop by one of the institutions he banks with. He needed to get something out of the bank safe deposit box and we had agreed we would just add the errand to our walk.

When we got to the bank, He was approached by a customer service representative, who wanted to know the reason for him being at the bank that morning.  “I need to get something out of my safe deposit box”, My friend confided.

The customer Rep looked at him in a quizzical way and then asked us to follow him.  “You need to speak to the person that is in that office”, he said pointing to a glass room.  “She is on the phone right now, but when she comes out, let her know the reason of you being here today”, he said as he went back to his post by the entrance of the bank.

We waited for a few minutes.  We observed how the lady was not longer on the phone; she sat at her desk and looked out of her office towards where we were standing.  Her eyes seemed to see passed thru him to a world that was not even there.  He raised his hand, trying to get her attention.  She ignored it and started to type something on her keyboard. We waited a few more minutes.   As she came out of the office he moved quickly to intercept her.  “Good Morning” he said while smiling.  “I need to get access to my safe deposit box”, could you help me with that?

She looked at him up and down, like if she could not register him.  She looked at me, and  the expression of her face was as if  she was seeing two people from “out of this planet”.  She sighed. “There is somebody  at the safe deposit right now,  so you may have to come back or wait .. but I don’t know for how long”, she said while putting her body in motion to continue on whatever direction she was going before he had intercepted her.

He was disconcerted.  How would she know his turn at the safe deposit if she did not even ask him for a name or anything?  “Could you please let me know how many people are ahead of me?, He asked her. She took a deep breath and rolled her eyes.  She then checked the list of people that were at the bank on that moment, waiting for access to their safe deposit boxes.  “Sign your name!”, she asked him impolitely while giving him a sign up sheet. He promptly sign up his  name on the sheet and agreed with her to come back in a half an hour.

When we returned, the lady was not there; a gentleman was standing by, so my friend approached him and asked him whether or not he could help him with his query.

The bank representative looked at him like in disbelief. He then walked back to his cubicle.  We followed him. Without the courtesy of offering us a seat, he asked my friend for his ID not for his banking  card, but his ID. My friend  handled him his NY ID. He looked at it briefly and returned back .  “NO, this is not a valid ID for the bank.”  My friend then pulled out his banking card, and he gave it to the bank Rep. , “Here, I will punch my pin number  and you can validate my ID”.  He said, as he approached the keypad where he could enter his ATM pin.  At the OK from the Bank Rep he keyed in the numbers. .

The bank rep, looked up my friend’s bank account; right then his face expression changed; it softened up.  He got up and said “Please have a seat”,” I will be right back” ; My friend  reminded him, all he wanted was to get an item from his  safe deposit, and the whole thing has taken already an hour;  “Oh, No worries, I just want you to speak to our personal banker, just for a few minutes, while you wait to get access to the safe deposit area” and he left leaving us with no option but to wait.

A minute later, the same lady who had ignored my friend for the longest time, came back with the other bank Rep ; this time, with a nice broad smile on her face, “How are you today!, So glad to have you stopping by”.  She said like if she was seeing my friend for the first time that morning.  Was she amnesic?  I asked myself, although I knew exactly what had happened. They had made a judgment out of the clothes we were wearing.  They saw no reason on spending a courtesy smile and a few minutes of their time on a customer with probably a $500 checking account.  When they checked his account they realized he was a Private bank Customer.

The lady proceeded to offer my friend her services as his private client banker and so on. And a few minutes later we were  finally able to retrieve the item from the safe deposit. Something  we could have done in less than half an hour, should we have had decided to wear business suits that Saturday morning or should the Private client banker person had been more inclined to treat the customers like what they are: bank clients; the very same people that make the bank profitable.

After we left, my friend decided to run a little experiment, and he asked me to witness it.  We were to visit 3 banking institutions(A, B and C), one smaller bank(A), one medium size bank (B) and another branch of the large bank (C)where he had his safe deposit box.  The plan was to visit each place twice, each time wearing different clothes: casual and business like ones.

The result was stunning.  As soon as we changed our clothes, the service He received in the bank C (where he had his safe deposit box) improved 90%.  Even when we switched branches the result was the same.

The experience in the other two institutions was more favorable when we were wearing business clothes but it was not as discriminating when we were wearing more casual gear.

I checked online for employees guidelines on customer service, and found that smaller banks make more of an effort to treat their customers as clients.

It would be interesting to see the guidelines for customer service given to bank employees at the different banking institutions during training sessions.  Are they that different from one bank to another? It certainly looks like banking at a small bank does have its advantages.

I also found an interesting article on rules for retail banking customer service.  It illustrates too how a key factor to move ahead of the competition relies a lot on a basic item: good customized personal service.. (http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/the-golden-rules-of-retail-banking-customer-service-1053055-1.html)

So it seems that choosing the clothes to wear and having low expectations on customer service proves to be an important factor in a banking experience. Are we still in a society where you are judged by our clothes and by our looks, even if it is to get your own money from the bank?

The learning from this event goes beyond what it has been mentioned here.  There are more elements to it. Also, Customer service has to be redefined and reinvented.  But that is the subject of another blog.  Stay tuned.