"Bank" Is Not a Four-Letter Word

word carries all sorts of emotional baggage, both negative and positive: * money in the bank. * Cold as a banker's heart. (One of my competitors in Honolulu successfully turned that phrase on its head, advertising itself as the home of warm-hearted bankers.) * You can bank on * Bankers' hours. (When was the last time you went home at 3 ?) * You can take it to the bank. * And my favorite title for a poem: Ogden Nash's Bankers Are Just Like Anybody Else, Except Richer. (Sample doggerel: They all observe one rule which woe betides the who fails to heed it...never lend money to anybody unless they don't need it.) *** I've been a nearly all my adult life, so I'd hate to think that the word might go out of fashion. Clearly, however, if they are to thrive, banks in the year 2001 must be plenty different from 1981 or 1991 banks. Some of the bankers who are shying away from the B-word these days are saying just that--banks must change, change, change. However, it seems to me that we ought to be emphasizing a redefinition of to meet the of the times, rather than abandoning and banker as words for an honorable industry and profession. If we're able to redefine in ways that keep us competitive, we'll do just fine. In part, we need to make banks credible sources for products and services that people didn't associate with banks before. How can we do that? By learning to think like our own customers and becoming more nimble marketers. Successful marketing is more than selling and promotion. It includes research, product development, pricing, and customer We pay the price when the assessing customer needs part gets short shrift. Stock analysts understand this. Tom Brown of Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, said: The companies that know the most about their individual customers will win. new definition of should be: A marketing business providing financial services to customers with differing needs. With support at the top, marketing becomes a strategic, rather than a tactical function--an integral part of the conversation about revenue, cost and pricing. But a marketing philosophy doesn't do much good if only the bosses know about it. It must be communicated to the people who have those daily moments of truth with customers. …