Jeff Judy

Jeff's Thoughts - April 30, 2008

Who Knows What Makes You Different?

For many people out there, frankly, a bank is a bank is a bank. I know your advertising is designed to make you stand out from the competition, but if you are leaving it to marketing and advertising to distinguish your institution from all the others, you aren't getting the job done.

Marketing consultants often spend a lot of time working with their clients to identify, understand, and communicate what makes them unique. You'll see phrases like "unique selling proposition" or "point of distinction" to describe what is, basically, the reason a prospect should sign up with you instead of any of your competitors.

What makes you stand out? And more importantly, who knows about that distinguishing trait? What comes to mind when you company name is mentioned to:

Your board and top management? If the leadership of the organization really don't see something about your own organization that separates you from the competition, then settle down and accept the market share you'll get based simply on location and geography.
Your employees? Do the people who interact directly with your customers and prospects really believe you are different? Or are they just parroting the advertising slogans you've paid for? Or maybe not even trying to distinguish your services at all?
Your community contacts? You are no doubt involved in the chamber of commerce, along with service organizations like the Rotary and similar groups. These personal contacts are a great opportunity to distinguish your bank, but all too often, your staff simply lives up to the stereotypes of financial services providers, instead of showing these community leaders how you can exceed their expectations.
Your marketing and advertising functions! Most of the time, once they have come up with slogans and campaigns, the job is done as far as they are concerned (until they hit you up for the next project). What if your staff regularly collected "success stories," case studies of when someone at the bank worked with a customer in a way that clearly demonstrates a crucial difference between you and the rest. Publicizing actions that back up your word is infinitely more powerful than flooding the media with abstract assertions.

The essential question is whether everyone in your organization knows what separates you from the crowd, believes it, can express it effectively, and shares that distinction at every opportunity. Your market can't know more than your own people do about what makes you unique.

If everyone in your bank thinks that it is up to marketing and advertising to make you stand out from the competition, you are probably already losing market share.