Expect More

Most companies develop tag lines to differentiate themselves from the competition with a catchy phrase or word. Everyone recalls Nike's Just Do It. But I would be willing to bet that most consumers take a cynical view of tag line promises based upon the common service experience that rarely delivers on the promise.

If you've not seen the Regions Bank commercials recently then it's probably due to the fact you're outside its current markets. The ads feature customers riding lime green bikes to their financial destinations. The closing tag is "Expect More". Skepticism goes into high gear at such promises; however, a recent experience with a Regions employee shifted my revved up reaction into neutral.

If you are the parent of a college student then you are familiar with the inevitable call for help when the checking account balance takes a torpedo-like dive into negative territory. Mistakes happen, although not often with this particular student. Regions, like other financial institutions, pays the larger items before the smaller ones. The result are cascading fees for the five dollar midnight food raids at the corner convenient store or late hour drive-thrus. My advice was to visit the closest branch manager to discuss the situation.

I remain firmly grounded in my customer relevance theory. Larger financial institutions struggle with this simply for the fact that size makes it difficult to monitor every decision unless it can be traced financially. Fee refunds are contained out of necessity but in doing so creative solutions are limited. The offer to reverse one fee out of six didn't surprise me but please read on for a lesson in customer relevance.

For the consumer that doesn't abuse the checking account, the rungs on the customer satisfaction ladder aren't used much. This means one doesn't have to go far up the management structure to obtain satisfaction. In this case, my call to the regional manager, Sherrie Addington, was amazing! She listened and then she delivered a creative solution that delivered Regions promise. The fees were reversed and put into a savings account. Since our son doesn't normally overdraw his account this was a win-win for everyone. Sherrie's solution jump-started his savings, kept the fees in the bank along with his direct deposit, increased the relationship and grounded his loyalty.

Folks, this isn't common. It's much easier for employees to say no. I offer this advice to the executives at Regions Bank - hang on to Sherrie. It wasn't your advertising that made me believe I could expect more, it was Sherrie.