Race To The Bottom

Behind the Bank Counter
Originally uploaded by YY

Another episode on my way towards becoming a real entrepeneur: the bank.

I don´t know how many articles I have read during the last years about the importance of good service in the fight over customers. How the ones who succeed are focused on the customer experience by making the encounter both smooth and clear. Quite often this has been tried through mergers and acquisitions. A phrase you hear often: "we offer all services from one counter."

But as my experience with Nordea today showed, this sometimes means that you get rather vague counselling on all the issues on that very counter. I felt sorry for the bank lady who had been assigned also to handle the insurance policies. When my questions started getting more detailed (as they do when you talk about your insurances or your pension), she was on thin ice. I was also asked numerous detailed questions without understanding their consequences. In the end we ended the interaction by her taking my mobile number and saying that a colleague of hers would call me. Not really how things should go. The experience was rather different than at Fennia where I was suggested to do certain things or set my income estimations on certain levels.

I do understand the need for lean and mean. But when you deal with issues such as health or the end of your days, you wish to have service making you feel confident and taking the fear away. Nordea still has a lot to do to get their insurance customers smile as the people on their ads.