Very interesting post on Seth’s blog:
Here’s one paragraph:
And finally, leaving the bank, I saw the most amazing interaction (yes, this is true.) A woman is first in line. She’s withdrawing $1,000 from her account. The teller pushes away from the desk and goes and gets her signature card (this is a neighborhood bank) to match it against the woman’s signature on the withdrawal slip.
The customer tells me that:1. the teller has been working there for twenty years.2. the customer comes in at least once a week.3. they always check her signatureand, ready for this…4. she’s been a customer at this bank for seventy years. I am not making this up. She is very proud that she’s nearly (nearly!) their longest-serving customer. The account is more than seventy years old. And they check her signature.
Clueless.
How can marketers learn that? Either you are customer oriented or you are company/product oriented. I don’t think there is much inbetween…
On a related note: In our new house we have oil heating, but the programming unit seemed kind of complicated. Naturally, there was no manual. I wrote an e-mail to the manufacturer on Sunday and had a manual by Tuesday. Definitely consumer oriented. I am just wondering what they need my e-mail-address for…